










1 

• I 














THE 


' f. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


OR THE 


RECLUSE OF JAMESTOWN. 


AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE OF THE OLD DOMINION. 


BY THE AUTHOR OF 

“THE KENTUCKIAN IN NEW-YORK.” 


IN TWO VOLUMES. 

VOL. I. 


NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, 

NO. 82 CLIFF-STREET, 

AND SOLD BY THE PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLERS THROUGHOL'T 
THE UNITED STATES. 


1834 






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Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1834, by Harper 
Sl Brothers, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the Southern District 
of New-York. 


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THE 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


CHAPTER I. 

The romance of history pertains to no human 
annals more strikingly than to the early settlement 
of Virginia. The mind of the reader at once 
reverts to the names of Raleigh, Smith, and Poca- 
hontas. The traveller’s memory pictures in a 
moment the ivy-mantled ruin of old Jamestown. 

About the year 16 — , the city of Jamestown, 
then the capital of Virginia, was by no means an 
unapt representation of the British metropolis ; 
both being torn by contending factions, and alter- 
nately subjected to the sway of the Roundheads and 
Royalists. 

First came the Cavaliers who fled hither after the 
decapitation of their royal master and the disper- 
sion of his army, many of whom became perma- 
nent settlers in the town or colony, and ever after- 
wards influenced the character of the state. 


4 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


These were the first founders of the aristocracy 
which prevails in Virginia to this day ; these were 
the immediate ancestors of that generous, fox-hunt- 
ing, wine-drinking, duelling and reckless race of 
men, which gives so distinct a character to Virgi- 
nians wherever they may be found. 

A whole generation of these Cavaliers had 
grown up in the colony during the interregnum, 
and, throughout that long period, were tolerated 
by those in authority as a class of probationers. The 
Restoration was no sooner announced, however, 
than they changed places with their late superiors 
in authority. That stout old Cavalier and former 
governor. Sir William Berkley (who had retired 
to the shades of Accomack,) was now called by 
the unanimous voice of the people, to reascend the 
vice-regal chair. 

Soon after his second installation came another 
class of refugees, in the persons of CromwelBs ve- 
teran soldiers themselves, a few of whom fled hi- 
ther on account of the distance from the court and 
the magnitude of their ofiences against the reigning 
powers. It will readily be perceived even by those 
not conversant with the primitive history of the 
Ancient Dominion, that these heterogeneous mate- 
rials of Roundheads and Cavaliers were not the best 
calculated in the world to amalgamate in the so- 
cial circles. 

Our story commences a short time after the death 
of Cromwell and his son, and the restoration 
of Charles the Second to the throne of his fathers. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


5 


The city of Jamestown was situated upon an isl- 
and in the Powhatan, about twenty leagues from 
where that noble river empties its waters into those 
of the Chesapeake Bay. 

This island is long, flat on its surface, and 
presents a semicircular margin to the view of one 
approaching from the southeast ; indeed it can 
scarcely be seen that it is an island from the side 
facing the river — the little branch which separates it 
from the main land having doubtless worn its way 
around by a long and gradual process. 

At the period of which we write, the city pre- 
sented a very imposing and romantic appearance, 
the landscape on that side of the river being shad- 
ed in the back ground by the deep green foliage 
of impenetrable forests standing in bold relief for 
many a mile against the sky. Near the centre of 
the stream, and nearly opposite the one just men- 
tioned, stands another piece of land surrounded by 
water, known to this day by the very unroman- 
tic name of Hog Island, and looking for all the 
w’orld like a nest for pirates, so impenetrable are the 
trees, undergrowth, and shrubbery with which it is^ 
thickly covered. 

To prevent the sudden incursions of the treach- 
erous savage, the city was surrounded with a wall 
or palisade, from the outside of which, at the 
northwestern end, was thrown a wooden bridge, so 
as to connect the first mentioned island with the 
main land. A single street ran nearly parallel with, 


6 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


the river, extending over the upper half of the isl- 
and and divided in the centre by the public square. 
On this were situated the Governor's mansion, 
state house, church, and other public buildings. 
Near where the line was broken by the space just 
mentioned, stood two spacious tenements, facing 
each other from opposite sides of the street. These 
were the rival hotels of the ancient city ; and, after 
the fashion of that day, both had towering signposts 
erected before their respective doors, shaped some- 
thing like a gibbet, upon which swung monoto- 
nously in the wind two huge painted sign-boards. 
These stood confronting each other like two angry 
rivals^ — one bearing the insignia of the Berkley 
arms, by which' name it was designated, — and the 
other the Cross Keys, from which it also received 
its cognomen. The Berkley Arms was the ren- 
dezvous of all the Cavaliers of the colony, both 
old and young, and but a short time preceding the 
date of our story, was honoured as the place of as- 
sembly for the House of Burgesses. 

The opposite and rival establishmentreceived its 
patronage from the independent or republican 
faction. 

It was late in the month of May, and towards 
the hour of tv/ilight ; the sun was just sinking be- 
hind the long line of blue hills which form the 
southwestern bank of the Powhatan, and the red 
horizontal rays fell along the rich volume of swell- 
ing waters dividing the city of Jamestown from 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


7 


the hills beyond with a line of dazzling yet not op- 
pressiv’e brilliance. 

As the rich tints upon the water gradually faded 
away, their place was supplied in some small de- 
gree from large lanterns which now might be seen 
running half way up the signposts of the two ho- 
tels before mentioned, together with many lights of 
less magnitude visible in the windows of the same 
establishments and the various other houses within 
reflecting distance of the scene. The melancholy 
monotony of the rippling and murmuring waters 
against the long graduated beach now also began to 
give place to louder and more turbulent sounds, as 
the negroes collected from their work to gossip 
in the streets — Indians put oflf from the shore in 
their canoes, or the young Cavaliers collected in 
the Berkley Arms to discuss the news of the day or 
perhaps a few bottles of the landlord’s best. On 
this occasion the long, well-scrubbed oaken table in 
the centre of the News Room” was graced by 
the presence of some half dozen of the principal 
youths of the city. In the centre of the table 
stood the half-(jmptied bottle, and by each guest a 
full bumper of wine, and all were eager to be 
heard as the wine brightened their ideas and the 
company received fresh accessions from without. 

‘‘ Oh, here comes one who can give us some news 
from the Governor’s,” said the speaker tem- 
pore, as a handsome and high-born youth of twen- 
ty-one entered the room with a proud step and 
haughty mien, and seated himself at the table as 


8 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


a matter of course, calling for and filling up a wine 
glass, and leisurely and carelessly throwing his cap 
upon the seat and his arm over the back of the 
next vacant chair, as he replied — “ No, I bring 
no news from the Governor’s, but I mistake the 
signs of the times if we do not soon hear news in 
this quarter.” 

All eyes were now turned upon the youth as he 
tossed off his wine. He was generally known among 
his companions by the familiar name of Frank 
Beverly, and was a distant kinsman and adopted 
son of the Governor, Sir William Berkley. News 
was no sooner mentioned than our host, turning a 
chair upon its balance, and resting his chin upon 
his hand, wa^s all attention. 

“ What is it, Frank ?” inquired Philip Ludwell, 
his most intimate friend and companion. 

Some mischief is brewing at the Cross Keys 
to-night,” replied Frank, ^s the landlord moved 
up his chair nearer to the table, more than ever on 
the qiii vive, when the Cross Keys became the sub- 
ject of discussion. < 

‘‘ There is no one in the Tap of the Keys, as I 
can see from here,” said another of the party, 
‘‘ and there is no light in any other portion of the 
house except the apartments of the family.” 

“ They hide their lights under a bushel,” con- 
tinued Frank, with an affected nasal twang and a 
smile of contempt. Taking his nearest companion 
by the lappel of his doublet, and drawing him 
gently to where the rival es-tablishment was visible 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


9 


through the door— “Do you not see aline of light 
just perceptible along the margin of the upper win- 
dow ? and if you will observe steadily for a mo- 
ment, you will see numerous dim shadows of mov- 
ing figures upon the almost impenetrable curtain 
which is drawn over it.’^ 

“Master Beverly is right, by old Noll’s nose,” 
said the landlord, as they all grouped together to 
catch a glimpse of the objects mentioned. 

“ You may well swear by Noll’s nose in this 
case,” returned Frank, “for unless I am much 
mistaken, those motions and gestures proceed from 
some of his late followers ; indeed I know it, I 
was accidentally coming up the alley-way between 
the Keys and the next house, when I saw four or 
five of them cross the fence into the yard, and from 
thence enter the house by the back door.” 

“ That’s true. I’ll swear,” said the host, “fpr 
there they are, some dozen of them at least, and 
I’m a Rumper if a soul has darkened his front door 
this night. But couldn’t you. Master Beverly, or 
one of the other young gentry, just step to the 
stout Sir William’s, and make an affidavy to the 
facts ? My word for it, he’d soon be down upon 
’em with a fiery facias or a capias, or some such or 
another invention of the law.” 

The youths all burst into a loud cachinftation at 
the zeal of the landlord to unmask his rival, and 
reseating themselves, called for another bottle, 
which our friend of the Arms was not slow to pro- 
duce, by way of covering his retreat and hiding his 


10 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


disinterested zeal. As they all refilled their glasses, 
Frank waved his hand for silence. “ Has any gen- 
tleman here seen Mr. Nathaniel Bacon very 
lately?” 

‘‘1 have not — I have not,” replied each of the 
party, and the interrogator then continued, I 
would give the best pair of spurs that ever graced 
a Cavalier’s heels to know whether his long ab- 
sence has had any thing to do with the getting up 
of yonder dark conclave ?” 

Whether any of the party were Bacon’s imme- 
diate friends, or whether they suspected Frank’s 
motives in the case, we shall not undertake to de- 
termine at present ; but certain it is they were all 
silent on the point except his intimate friend Lud- 
well, who replied — By St. George, Beverly, I 
believe you are jealous of Bacon on account of the 
favourable light in which he is said to stand in the 
eyes of your fair little mistress.” 

‘‘ If I thought that Virginia Fairfax would en- 
tertain a moment’s consideration for a person of 
such doubtful parentage and more doubtful princi- 
ples as Mr. Nathaniel Bacon, the ill-advised pro- 
tege of her father, 1 would fprswear her for ever, 
and dash this glass against the floor, with which I 
now invite you all to join me in pledging her, — 
What say you ? Will you join me, one and all ? 
All rose at the invitation, and while standing with 
glasses suspended midway to their lips, Ludwell 
added the name of the pretty Harriet Harrison.” 
It was drunk with three times three, and then tho 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


11 


landlord was brought up by the collar of his jerken 
between two of the livelJestof the party, and made 
to tell the reckonihgNppon the table with his well- 
worn chalk. Having settled the score, they pro- 
ceeded to decant full half the remaining bottle 
into one of his own pint flelgons, seized from his 
shelves for that purpose. ‘‘ Mine host” made sun- 
dry equivocal contortions of the countenance, and 
practised by anticipation several downward mo- 
tions of the muscles of deglutition, and then swal- 
lowed the enormous potation without a groan. 

‘‘ There now,” said Ludwell, “ bear it always in 
your remembrance that a like fate awaits you, when- 
ever your wine bears evidence of having passed 
rather far into the state of acetous fermentation.” 
As the. party were now' leaving the room in pairs, 
linked arm in arm, ‘‘ Stop ! stop !” cried Bever- 
ly ; I have one proposition to make before we 
separate. It is this. You know that there is to be 
a grand celebration the day after to-morrow, which 
is the anniversary of the restoration., The whole to 
conclude with a ball at the Governor’s, to which I 
feel myself authorized to say that you will all be 
invited. Now I propose that we all go at different 
hours to-morrow and engage the hand of the fair 
Virginia for the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, 
and sixth sets. So that when Mr. Nathaniel Bacon 
returns, as he assuredly will, to claim her hand, 
to which he seems to think he has a prescriptive 
right, he will find no less than six different suc- 
cessful competitors. What say you, gentlemen ?” 


12 


CAVALIERS OF VIKOINIA. 


The proposition was instantly acceded to by all 
the party, and then the landlord of the Arms was 
left to digest the pint of his own sour wine in soli- 
tude, as he leaned his overgrown person against the 
casings of the door and watched the youths as 
they departed one by one in different directions to 
their respective places of abode. 

“Natty Bacon is a goodly youth, however,’’ he 
muttered in soliloquy ; “ha, ha, ha ; but he shall 
know of the plot if I can only clap eyes on him 
before they see the young lady. Let me see ; can 
it be possible that, Natty can have any thing to do 
with yonder dark meeting of Noll’s men ] I’ll not 
believe it ; he is too good a youth to meddle with 
such a canting, snivelling set as are congregated 
there. He always pays his reckoning like any 
gentleman’s son of them all and a gentleman’s son 
I’ll warrant he is, for all that no one knows his 
father but Mr. Gideon Fairfax.” 

The Cromwellians alluded to, who were sup- 
posed by the youths to be assembled at the Cross 
Keys, were a few of "the late Protector’s veteran 
soldiers, and were the most desperate, reckless and 
restless of the republicans who, as has been already 
mentioned, had fled to Jamestown after the resto- 
ration. These soldiers were unfitted for any kind of 
business, and generally lived upon the precarious 
hospitality of those of their own party who had 
settled themselves as industrious citizens of the 
new community. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


13 


The names of the leaders of these veteran sol- 
diers and furious bigots were Berkinhead, Worley, 
Ooodenough and Proudfit ; and of these the reader 
will hear more anon- 




y 


'i.- ■ 




VoL. ti 


14 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA- 


CHAPTER IL 


Late in the afternoon of the day succeeding the 
one designated in the last chapter, towards the 
southwestern extremity of the beach and outside 
of the palisade, a young and gentle creature, of 
most surpassing loveliness^ moved thoughtfully 
along the sandy shore, every nowand then casting^ 
a wistful glance over the water, and as often heav- 
ing a gentle sigh, as a shade of girlish di^ppoint- 
ment settled upon her blooming face. H#r dress- 
was simple, tasteful, and exquisitely appropriate to 
her style of beauty. She had apparently scarce 
passed her sixteenth birthday; and of course her 
figure was not yet rounded out to its full perfection 
of female loveliness. So much of her neck a& 
was visible above a rather high and close cut 
dress, was of that pure, chaste and lovely white 
which gives such an air of heavenly innocence to 
the budding girl of that delightful age. The face 
although exceeding the neck in the height, variety 
and richness of its colouring, was not disfigured 
by a single freckle, scar or blemish. The features 
were generally well proportioned and suited ta 
each other, the lips full and gently pouting, with a 
margin of as luxurious tinting as that with which 
nature ever adorned the first budding rose of spring, 
and when parted, as they often were, by the most 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


16 


gentle and naive laughter, displayed a set of teeth 
beautifully white and regular. Yet one could 
scarcely fasten the eye upon them for the admira- 
1:ion excited by the exquisite expression of the dim- 
pled mouth, ever varying, and as it seemed, 
more lovely with each succeeding change. The 
motion of her eyes was so rapid that it was difficult 
to ascertain their colour ; but certain it is they 
were soft and brilliant, the latter effect produced in 
no small degree by long fair dewy lashes which 
rose and fell over the picture, as lights and sha- 
dows fall from the pencil of an inspired painter. 

The fair flaxen ringlets fell beneath the small 
gipsey hat in short thick curls, and were clustered 
around her brow, so as to form the most natural 
and appropriate shade imaginable to a forehead of 
polished ivory. She was about the medium height, 
symmetrically proportioned, with an exquisitely 
turned ankle and little foot, which noiv bounded 
over the beach with an impatience only surpassed 
by her own impetuous thoughts, as her eyes be- 
came intently riveted upon a moving speck upon 
the distant waters. The wild and startled expres- 
sion, excited in the first moment of surprise, might 
now be seen merging into one of perfect satisfaction, 
as the distant object began to grow into distinct out- 
lines at every plunge of the buoyant waves; her heart 
heaving its own little current to her face in per- 
fect unison with their boisterous movements. 

A beautifully painted canoe soon ran its curled 
snd fantastic head right under the bank upon 


16 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


which she stood, and in the next moment a gallant 
and manly youth leaped upon the shore by her 
side, and taking her unresisting hand, gently 
removed the gipsey hat so as to bring into view a 
certain crimsoning of the neck and half averted 
face. Nathaniel Bacon, the youth just landed, 
was about twenty-one, and altogether presented an 
appearance of the most attractive and commanding 
character. He wore a green hunting jerken, 
buttoned close up to his throat so as to show off to 
the best advantage a broad and manly chest. 
Upon his head was a broad brimmed unstiffened 
castor, falling over his shoulders behind, and 
looped up in front by a curiously wrought broach. 
A small brass hunting horn swung beneath one 
shoulder, while to the other was suspended a short 
cut and thrust sword. In his hand he bore a fish- 
ing rod and tackle. 

Few as evidently were his years, much painful 
thought had already shadowed his handsome and 
commanding features with a somewhat precocious 
maturity. It was obviously, however, not the na- 
tural temperament of the man which now shone 
out in his features, after the subsiding of the first 
glow of delighted feeling visible for an instant as 
he watched the heightened bloom on the counte- 
nance of the maiden, 

“ You were not irreconcilably offended then at 
my rash and disrespectful behaviour to your father 
at our last meeting?’.^ 

Certainly not irreconcilably so, Nathaniel, if 


cavalii:rs of viriginia. 


17 


offended at all ; but I will confess to you candidly, 
that I was hurt and mortified, as much on your 
own, as on my father’s account/’ 

‘‘ You are always kind, considerate and forgiv- 
ing, Virginia, and it behooves me in presence of 
so much gentleness, to ease my conscience in some 
measure by a confession. You have sometimes, 
but I have never, forgotten that I was thrown upon 
your father’s hospitality an orphan and an outcast. 
This fact constantly dwells upon my mind, and 
sometimes harrows up my feelings to such a degree 
that I am scarcely conscious of my words or ac- 
tions. It was so on the occasion alluded to. I 
forgot your presence, the respect due to your fa- 
ther and my benefactor, as well as what was due to 
myself. I had been endeavouring to revive some of 
the drunken reminiscences of tha^eccentric fellow 
who sits in the canoe there, but they tended only 
to inflame my ardent desire to know something 
more of myself. Certainly some allowances must 
be made for me, Virginia, under the mortifying 
circumstances in which I am placed. I thought 
your father could and ought to relieve this cruel 
suspense.” 

He will if he can, Nathaniel ; and that he does 
not do so immediately, is the best evidence to my 
mind either that he knows nothing on the subject, 
or that some powerful reason exists why he should 
not disclose his knowledge at present. Come, then, 
return with me to ouf house ; mj^ father will 
take no notice of your absence or its cause, unless 
2 * 


IS 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGIIVIA. 


to jest with you upon your want of success io 
your fishing expedition, which it seems was the 
ostensible motive of your absence/’ 

was my purpose to return, but I had not so 
amiably settled the how and the when ; indeed the 
objects I had in view were so urgent that I deter- 
minediio brave even your father’s continued anger 
in order 4o obtain an interview with you.,” 

With me, Nathaniel !” 

Ay, with you, Virginia ! You know that 
there are on the island some restless and turbulent 
spirits — late soldiers of the Protector. They have 
some dangerous project brewing I am well satisfied, 
from circumstances which accidentally fell under 
my own observation. You know too that the Re- 
cluse is said to have unbounded influence with 
these desperate men, and to be familiar with all 
their designs and movements. And notwithstand- 
ing your childish dread of him, you know that he 
loves you more than any living creature.” 

I know all the things you speak of, except the 
last, and for that I suspect I am indebted to your 
imagination ; but fo what does all this lead?” 

I have just returned from a visit to that strange 
and mysterious old man, and as I have already 
hinted, hastened hither for the purpose of seeking 
an interview with you, which fortune has so oppor- 
tunely thrown in my way.” 

But I am yet in the dark. Why did you 
hasten from the Recluse to me, after discovering 
the things you speak of ?” 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


19 


I will tell you ; but you must be cool, calm 
and considerate while I do so, because I have that 
to tell and that to propose which will astound 
you 

Oh do tell it at once then, and not play upon 
my feelin'gs thius.” 

Your father’s andyour uncle’s life is in danger, 
Virginia ! Heaven, what have I done?” he con- 
tinued, as- he saw his companion turn deadly pale 
and lean against the palisade for support. But in'"- 
stantly recovering herself she asked. — 

Whence does this danger come ?” 

That I do not know exactly ; but the Recluse 
knows, and I have been vainly endeavouring to 
learn it from him ; and this brings me to the pro- 
position which I have to make. You must visit 
him this night ! Ay, Virginia ! start not, you must 
do it for your father’s and your uncle’s sake !” 

Visit the Recluse, and at night ! What will my 
parents say to it, think you ?” 

They must not know one word of it.” 

“ Then it is absolutely out of the question.” 

‘‘ Do not say so, Virginia, till you hear me out. 
As I have already said, the Recluse loves you bet- 
ter than he does any creature in the colony. He 
knows all the plots and counterplots that are go- 
ing on, and if you will surprise him with a visit 
to-night, he will divulge the whole affair to you.” 

Why must it be to-night ?” 

Because there is no time to be lost. To-morrow 
is the anniversary of the Restoration. There is 


20 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


to be a grand celebration during the day, and a 
ball at night ; this opportunity is to be taken ad- 
vantage of in some way or other by the desperate 
men alluded to. If we wait till to-morrow, and 
make our visit publicly, these men will all know 
of it, and its very object be counteracted by that 
circumstance.” 

‘‘Your reasons are plausible I confess, Nathaniel, 
and secret enemies are at all times dreadful, but 
your alternative is scarcely less so.” 

“ I will pledge my life for your safety. You 
have the keys of your father’s house at command, 
you can go and return through the servants’ hall 
when they are all asleep. No sentinels are placed 
on the walls since the general peace with the con- 
federated tribes of Indians. My canoe lies under 
the first abutment of the bridge. I will w^atch 
you from your father’s door till you arrive there. 
We can then cross the creek iri the canoe, so that 
no one will see us at the bridge. Brian O’Reily 
shall wait on the opposite shore with my horse 
and pillion for you, and another for himself. What 
then is there so much to be dreaded in this simple 
nocturnal excursion t(5 a retired old man, who, to 
say the worst of him, is nothing more than fanati-. 
cal on religious subjects, and certainly he is very 
wise and learned upon all others.” 

“ It is the clandestine nature of the expedition 
that I object to,Nathaniel ; it is so hurried — ratsuch 
a strange hour too. At all events I must have a 
little time to consider of the propriety of the step.” 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


21 


‘‘ Certainly, you shall have as much time as the 
nature of the case will admit of. But see, the long 
shadows of the trees are already extending across 
the river and the birds are seeking their resting 
places for the night.” 

Oh, happy little songsters ! would to Heaven 
that my rest could be as sweet and tranquil as 
theirs this night ? But Nathaniel, at what hour 
shall I meet you at the bridge, provided I de- 
termine upon the step you propose ?” 

As the clock from the tower of the church 
strikes eleven I will be at my post.” And as he 
stepped into his canoe, he continued, Remem- 
ber, Virginia, that it is your own peace and your 
father’s safety that I am endeavouring to secure in 
the course I urge you to adopt.” 

As the little vessel rose and sunk over the swell- 
ing waves in its passage round the town, Virginia 
stood on the brink of the river and gazed upon 
the scerte in a deeply meditative mood, very new to 
her young and hitherto careless heart. At length 
when her late companion had long disappear- 
ed from her sight, and the sombre shadows of 
evening were fast closing around the ancient city, 
she slowly passed into the gates ^of the palisade 
and sought her father’s dwelling. 


22 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


CHAPTER III. 


Violent was the struggle of contending emo- 
tions within the bosom of Virginia Fairfax, when, 
she had gained her own apartment, and strove to 
form her determination in the matter proposed by 
Nathaniel Bacon. On such occasions feeling usurps 
the place of reason, and the longer we deliberate, 
the more perplexing seem to grow our doubts and 
difficulties. If, however, there were powerful feel- 
ings contending against the enterprise, there were 
equally if not more powerful ones operating in its 
favour. Not the least among these was the esti- 
mation in which she held both him who proposed 
the nocturnal expedition and him whose advice 
and aid were expected to be gained. Bacon him- 
self, it was generally believed, had acquired most 
of his knowledge of books from the mysterious 
personage alluded to, and he in his turn had beea 
the instructor of his fair young associate and pla>> 
mate. It is true that these relations of the several 
parties had somewhat changed of late years, as the 
two younger ones approached the age at which 
their continuance might be deemed improper, to 
say nothing of any little misgivings of which, they 
might themselves be conscious, as to the nature of 
many strange and novel impressions, the growth 
of years and intimacy, perhaps, but not suspectod 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINA. 


23 


\antil with advancing years came change of relative 
situation and prospect for the future. 

All the various relations of our heroine to the 
other parties presented themselves in successive 
aspects to her view, as she endeavoured honestly to 
decide the matter according to the dictates of duty. 
While she was thus deliberating, the usual evening 
meal was announced. As she entered the apartment, 
and beheld her father and mother waiting for her 
to assume the head of the table, which on account 
of the latter’s delicate health had been her custom 
of late, all the contending emotions which had so 
lately occupied her mind were renewed with in- 
creasing force by the sight of the beloved objects 
in whose behalf she was solicited to undertake the 
strange adventure. 

Gideon Fairfax, the father of Virginia, was one of 
the Cavaliers, before alluded to, who fled to James- 
town during the interregnum. He was brother-in- 
law to the Governor of the colony, and was, at the 
time of which we write, a member of the council. 
He was one of that remarkable race of men which 
has so powerfully influenced the destinies of the 
Ancient Dominion from that day to the present. 
He was rather above the medium height, with light 
hair and eyes, and although he had considerably 
passed the prime of life, there was a sparkling of 
boyish vivacity in his eyes, and a cheerful expres- 
sion always hovering about his mouth, which instant- 
ly dispelled any thing like formality in his inter- 
course with others. Yet withal there was a bold. 


24 


CAVALIERS OP VIRCiNlA. 


reckless daring in his look, together with an open* 
hearted sincerity which served to give a manly 
dignity to the lighter expressions already mention- 
ed. To his only daughter he was most devotedly 
attached. 

Mrs. Emily Fairfax seemed about the same age 
as her husband, and though she still preserved 
some evidence of former beauty, her countenance 
was now mostly indebted for any charm that it 
possessed to a mild, lady-like and placid serenity, 
which was occasionally^ shadowed by an air of 
melancholy so profound, that more than once 
her friends were alarmed for her reason. As 
Virginia assumed her place at the board, the con- 
flict in her mind Was in nowise subdued by ob- 
serving that one of these melancholy visitations 
was just settling upon her mother’s countenance ; 
indeed there seemed to be a mutual discovery on 
the part of mother and daughter, that each had 
some secret cause of uneasiness ; but the effect was 
by far the most painful to the mother’s heart, as it 
was the first time that she had ever seen her 
daughter’s gay and happy temperament seriously 
disturbed. The parting hour for the night arri- 
ved, without making either of them wiser as to 
the cause of the other’s pre-occupation and evident 
anxiety ; the mother having sought an explanation 
in vain, and the daughter being too much accus- 
tomed to her present state of mind to intrude far- 
tJier upon her sorrows, whatever might be their 
cause or nature. Bacon’s arguments prevailed, and 


26 


dAVALIERS OE VIRGINIA. 

long before the hour appointed, Virginia was sit 
ting at the window, her light extinguished, mantle 
drawn close around her to exclude the damp air 
from the river, and her hat tied on in readiness 
for the expedition. 

At length the town clock began to send its slow 
and solemn sounds across the water. The house 
was still and dark, and the inmates apparently- 
wrapped in profound slumber. Her own clandes- 
tine movements, so new to her, seemed like the 
trampling of armed heels rather than the footfalls 
of her own slight figure. More than once she was 
on the point of retracing her steps, so tumultuous 
and painful were her emotions m prosecuting an 
adventure which still appeared to her of such ques- 
tionable propriety. The servants^ hall, garden, and 
postern gate were all passed without the slightest 
interruption, save an occasional start at her own 
shadow, or the impetuous beating of her agitated 
heart. The moon was at her zenith, and the clouds 
coursing high in the heavens, so as every now and 
then to obscure her reflected beams, and present 
alternate and fantastic contrasts of light and shade 
upon the surrounding objects. The river for one 
moment looked like a dark abyss, and the next 
a mirror of light as the silver rays fell sparkling 
upon the rippling waters beneath the bridge. The 
interminable forest beyond was at one moment dark 
as Erebus, and the next as light as fairy land. There 
is no appearance of the heavens, perhaps, which 
VoL. I. 3 


ite CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 

produces a greater tendency in the mind to unde-*- 
fined and superstitious terror than that which we 
have attempted to describe. Our own shadow, visi- 
ble as it is only for an instant, will startle us ; and 
the ill-omened birds of night acquire huge and un- 
natural proportions as they flit swiftly by on noise- 
less wings in this rapid alternation of light and 
gloom. The wolves and other beasts of prey might 
be heard at long intervals, as their wild and savage 
howls broke upon the ear, reverberating from cliff 
to cliff as they fell upon and were borne across the 
water. Under these circumstances it may be rea- 
dily imagined that our heroine was not a little re- 
lieved at the sight of Bacon leaning against the 
nearest abutment of the bridge, anxiously watching 
for her approach. In a few moments he had seat- 
ed his companion in the boat, upon a cushion form- 
ed of his cloak, and was rapidly approaching the 
opposite shore. When they arrived at the appoint- 
ed rendezvous, a very unexpected source of unea- 
siness was speedily discovered. As has been al- 
ready intimated, Bacon had early in the evening de- 
spatched his usual attendant, Brian O’Reily, across 
the bridge to wait their arrival. The horses were 
indeed there— -and O’Reily was there, but so in- 
toxicated as to be apparently in no condition to 
guide the motions of a horse, even should he be 
able to keep the saddle. Bacon lost all patience at 
this discovery, and would perhaps have taken sum- 
mary and not very agreeable means to sober his 
attendant, had he not been reminded by his gentle 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGLNIA 


27 


companion of the peculiar and privileged position 
which Brian had from time immemorial enjoyed 
in his service, as well as that of their own family. 
‘‘ How comes it, sir,” said the young man, “ that 
I find you in this predicament when I gave you 
such strict in junctions to keep yourself sober ? Now 
of all other times ! — when I had taken so much 
trouble to instruct you whom you were to guard, 
and upon what expedition ?” 

“ By the five crasses but you’ve hit the very 
nail upon the head. By the contints of the book 
but that’s the very rason I took a dhrop of the cra- 
thur !” 

‘‘ What is the reason, you drunken old fool?” 

The business were an to be sure ! you wouldn’t 
be after axing a sinner like Brian O’Reily to ixpose 
himself to sich a timptation widout taking a dhrop, 
and may be your haner would do that same for all 
your spaking aginst it so intirely.” 

And what may the nature of the temptation 
be of which you speak ?” 

And is it Brian you’re after axin ? 0 be gorra, 
but that’s runnin away wid the story intirely, so 
it is; sure it’s me should be axin your haner after 
that same !” 

‘‘ None of your subterfuges, sir ! I am deter- 
mined to know your ideas of this dreadful temp- 
tation.” 

By my purty an is it Brian’s idaas you’re ax- 
in after, divil a miny o’ them he’s got any way, 
barrin a small bit of a smotherin about the heart 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


whenever I think of the business we’re on, and 
the gintleman we’re goin ta see, savin your pri- 
seiiceand the beauty o’ the world by your side.” 

‘‘ What gentleman— speak out and I will forgive 
your drunkenness, provided you give me up that 
bottle I see peeping from the pouch of your jerkin.” 

An is’nt it the man widout the shadow you’re 
after making a tay party wid ?” 

And who is the man without a shadow, Bri- 
an ?” inquired Virginia, willing to forget her own 
misgivings in the more ludicrous superstition of 
the son of the Emerald Isle, whose countrymen, it 
may be remarked, formed no inconsiderable part 
of the inferior population of the city at that day. 

Oh bad cess to me, but I’m as glad to see you 
as two tin pinnies, you beauty o’ the world ; but it 
bates all the love I had for you and ever had these 
ten years past to see where you’r going.” 

Well, where is it, Brian ?” 

Hav’nt I tould your ladyship it was to a tay 
party wid the inimy himself.” 

Come, see if you can assist Virginia to the 
pillion,” said Bacon, as he sprang into the saddle. 

By my purty and I’ll do that same kneeling 
upon one knee and taking one foot in his hand, 
and then seating her as easily and gracefully as if 
he had been a stranger to the bottle for a month. 

I had no idea that you were such a coward, 
Brian,” continued his master. 

‘‘ Sorra a dhrop o’ coward’s blood runs in Brian 
O’Reily’s heart, iny way. It’s one thing to trate 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 29 

the grate inimy with dacent respect, and its an- 
other to fight the yellow nagres that go dodgin 
from tree to tree like so many frogs ; the devil fly 
away wid the one and the t’other o’ them for me, 
I say.” 

‘^And who is the great enemy ?” 

Sure hav’nt I tould your haner and the beauty 
o’ the world by your side, it was the man widout 
a shadow what lives in the stone house widout win- 
dows, as well he may, seein the light o’ his own 
counthenance may be seen across the river the dark- 
est night any day.” 

‘‘ Sit your horse straight, you drunken piece of 
stupidity, or you will break your neck.” 

“ Oh ! an if Brian never breaks his neck till he 
falls from a horse, sure he’ll live to take many a 
dhrop of the crathur yet before he dies. Sure I 
was only erassin myself, divil a word o’ lie’s in 
that, iny way.” 

There, I have broken one of your necks at 
least,” said Bacon, as with the butt of his riding 
whip he struck the neck from a bottle which every 
now and then peeped from Brian’s pocket as the 
motions of the horse raised him in the saddle. 

Oh ! murther all out, but you’ll come to want 
yet before you die. Oh sure, but the crathur’s safe 
after all. Wo, ye divil of a baste, don’t you hear 
the crathur all runnin down the wrang side o’ me. 
Wo, I say ! Oh but the bottle sticks as tight to 
the pouch as if it growed there. Oh murther all 
out, I’m ruined, I’m ruined intirely.” 

3 * 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Draw your arm from your jerken, Brian, and 
then you can drink out of your pocket/’ said Vir- 
ginia, suppressing a laugh. 

< ‘ Oh you beauty o’ the world, see what it is to 
have the larnin,” replied the Irishman, immedi- 
ately adopting the expedient ; but here a new dif- 
ficulty presented itself. “ Oh murther, but the ga- 
ble end^s all knocked off and fax the chimney went 
along with it. Oh, but the crokery sticks up all 
round like pike stafis. Wo you murthur’n baste ; 
Now I’ve got it, now I’ve got it, you beauty ; sorra 
one of the lane cows at Jamestown gives sichmilk 
as that, fax if they did. I’d be head dairyman to 
the Governor anyway.” 

Thus our adventurers beguiled the way through 
a dreary and trackless''forest of some miles, until 
they approached a spot where Bacon signified to 
the party that they had accomplished so much of 
their journey as was to be performed on horseback. 
What farther befell them will be described in the 
ensuing chapter. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


ai 


CHAPTER IV. 


Bacon and his companion having left O'Reily 
with the horses, now commenced descending an 
immense hill which formed one side of a dark and 
dismal looking glen. The tall pine trees with 
which the higher grounds were covered seemed to 
reach half way to the clouds. A cold midnight 
breeze swept through the damp and dewy foliage 
of the trees and ehrubbery. The birds of night 
chimed mournfully and dismally in unison with 
the monotonous rustling of the leaves, and the rip-, 
pling of a little brook just before them. When 
they had stepped across the stream, and cast their 
eyes up the face of the opposite hill, the rays of 
the moon suddenly broke through a fissure of the 
clouds, revealing to them rather the darkness 
around than any distinct traces of the path which 
they were to pursue. Bacon stood for an instant, 
and gazed intently upon a little spot of partially 
cleared ground half v/ay to the summit, then gently 
drawing his companion to the same place where he 
stood, and pointing upwards, he said ‘‘ Do you not 
perceive something moving yonder ? It is he t 
you must now proceed alone !” 

‘‘Alone, Nathaniel? Impossible!” 

“ You must, Virginia ; he will not admit more 
than^ one person at a within his cell. Fear not. 


32 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


there is no earthly danger ; I will be within call. 
Rouse your drooping courage ! the worst half of 
your undertaking is now accomplished.’^ 

‘^By far the worst half is yet to come, Nathan- 
iel ; you can form no conception of the awe with 
which I look upon that being ! You forget that I 
have never seen more ^f him than I see now, not- 
withstanding you say that he is so much attached 
to me.” 

‘‘ It is strange, I confess, Virginia, but it is ne- 
vertheless true.” 

His affection, if it exists, must be the fruit of 
your representations as to some imaginary profi- 
ciency in my studies.” 

‘‘ Not at all ; he seems to know every one in 
Jamestown, and all the circumstances connected 
with their history : but come, Virginia, we are 
losing precious time. Move on and fear nothing.” 

Clasping her hands, and internally summoning 
up all her resolution, she advanced with a sort of 
desperate determination. Having arrived within 
some forty yards of the spot before alluded to, the 
outlines of a gigantic figure could easily be dis- 
cerned as his footfalls were distinctly heard mov- 
ing restlessly to and fro on a sort of platform or 
level space, left by nature or formed by art, in the 
side of the hill. His head towered far above the 
stunted undergrowth, interspersed among the rug- 
ged outlines of the scene. And as he impatiently 
measured the narrow limits of this outer court to 
his castle, he seemed not unlike a chafed and hun^ 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


33 


gry monarch of the forest when making the narrow 
rounds of his iron bound limits. Having gone thus 
far, she was sensible that it was nearly as bad to re- 
cede as go forward, and that if she retreated now 
upon the very eve of the fulfilment of all that Ba- 
con had promised, her past anxieties would have 
been endured for nothing : she braced her nerves 
therefore, and endeavoured to subdue the over- 
powering terror which the distant view of this 
strange and mysterious man had excited. Sum- 
moning all her resolution for one desperate effort, 
she threw herself forward and fell at the feet of 
the huge mortal, who stood apparently astounded 
at the abrupt appearanfce of his unwonted and uu-? 
timely visiter. V^hen Virginia found courage 
enough to raise her lately closed eyes, she was not 
a little astonished to see him leaning against the 
stone walls of his cell, no less agitated than her? 
seif. He was apparently about sixty years of age, 
his hair slightly silvered, and his features worn 
and weatherbeaten, yet eminently handsome. His 
person was very remarkable, being about six feet 
and a half in height and perfectly proportioned. 
His dress conformed in some degree to the military 
fashions of the day, having however rather the 
appearance of undress than full uniform. The ex- 
pression of his countenance was decidedly intel- 
lectual ; and about the lower part of his face there 
were some indications of a disposition to sensuali- 
ty, but tempered and controlled in no ordinary de-. 
gree by some other fierce and controlling passion^ 


34 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


His eye was wild and unsettled at times, and again 
assumed the mild serenity of the profound student. 
Altogether, his presence was intellectual and com- 
manding in the highest degree. 

As he stood against the wall of his cell quaking 
like an aspen, an indifferent observer would have 
been at a loss to determine v/hich was the most 
agitated, he or his gentle visiter. Virginia noted 
with more than one furtive glance his strange and 
unexpected embarrassment, still however, preserv- 
ing her humble and supplicating posture. At 
length, struggling with the emotions which un- 
manned him, muttering all the while broken sen- 
tences which fell strangely upon her ear, and 
among which she could distinguish repeated allu- 
sions to herself, and to events of long passed years, 
recalled as it appeared by some fancied resem- 
blance traced by his excited imagination in her 
form and features. He approached the kneeling 
maiden, and taking her hand, he raised her from 
the ground, and said in a tone of kindness, “ My 
wayward fancies frighten thee, my child ; be not 
alarmed, however — there is nothing here to harm 
thee. My house is poor and cheerless, but such 
as it is, thou art welcome to its shelter, and to any 
services which I can render to thee. Come, my 
daughter, let us in from the damps of the night. 

The cell of the Recluse was formed on three 
sides by stone walls without windows, as O’Reily 
had described them, the fourth being furnished by 
jthe sideof the hill, and the roof an arch pf ma^ 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


35 


sonry overgrown with moss, grass and weeds.* 
Pressing open the rude door, he entered, followed by 
Virginia. Near one corner of the room stood a 
common deal table, on which was placed a small 
iron lamp, and near to it a three legged stool of the 
rudest construction. These were the only articles 
of furniture of which the apartment could boast. 
The floor, which consisted of the earth, as nature had 
made it, was overgrown with weeds and bushes. 

This,’^ said he, with a bitter smile upon his coun- 
tenance, is my hall of audience ! Here I receive 
my guests, with one solitary exception ; thou shalt 
be another.’’ Having thus spoken, he took the 
lamp from the table, and drawing aside some dried 
bushes which were piled against the side formed 
by the hill in apparent carelessness, he exhibited to 
her view the mouth of a cavern, not sufficient in 
height by several feet to admit his person in the 
erect position. ‘^This,” said he, as he stooped to 
enter, ‘‘ is not a house made with hands, and it is 
built upon a rock of ages. The rains may descend, 
floods may come, winds blow and beat upon it, 
but it falleth not. It is proper that thou shouldst 
see it, and such has long been my intention. I 
have much to say to thee, and doubtless thou hast 
something to communicate to me, or thou wouldst 
not have made this visit. But not a whisper of 
what thou mayst see or hear must ever pass thy 

♦ A house" very similar to that we have described stands to this 
day near the Ancient City. Its former objects and uses are entirely 
tmknown. 


^6 CAVALIEfis OF VIRGINIA. 

lips, save to those I shall authorize thee to ihatef 
partakers of thy knowledge. This is a condition 
which thou must impress upon thy mind.’^ Step- 
ping in a bent position within the mouth of the 
Cavern, he moved forward and downward, motion- 
ing her to follow. They descended many rude and 
natural steps, which were imperfectly seen by the 
light of the lamp borne by her singular guide, the 
rays being often obscured by the bulk and great 
height of his person in the narrow passages of the 
cave, so that she was more than once compel- 
led to grope her way by sliding her hand along 
the cold damp and dripping walls, and by slipping 
her feet over the uneven ground, without raising 
them in the act of stepping. Having completed 
the descent, she found herself in a long natural 
vestibule to the inner apartments. Her guide had 
gained rapidly upon her, so that when once more 
upon level ground, some thirty feet below the out- 
er surface of the earth, he was almost out of sight. 
She would have cried out, had she not been restrain- 
ed by a counteracting feeling, which placed her in 
a grievous dilemma between horror at the dismal 
place, and fear of the singular being who had 
undertaken to guide her through its recesses. Com- 
mending herself however to her Maker in mental 
prayer, and trusting in his protection the more 
confidently on account of the motive for her under- 
taking, she hastened forward so as with great ex- 
ertions to keep within sight of the rising and sink- 
ing light of the lamp, and the devious windings of 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


37 


the cavern. The footfalls of her Herculean guide 
reechoed along the damp and gloomy tunnels 
with an awful and dismal effect, amidst the grave- 
like stillness of the place. Occasionally flickering 
shadows were reflected against the walls, when the 
light turned suddenly round. a projecting rock, af- 
fording to her imagination the most startling and 
frightful images. While her mind was combat- 
ting these unreal terrors, she was surprised by the 
tone of a deep hoarse voice abruptly rumbling 
through the high dark arches far above her head, 
with that reverberating sound peculiar to these se- 
cret places of the earth. But her amazement was 
still greater, when lifting her eyes in the direc- 
tion of the lamp she beheld the Recluse stand- 
ing upon a lofty but narrow* ledge of rock, the 
lamp flickering and sinking every now and then 
so as to threaten total darkness* He was pointing 
with his finger, and directing her to a projecting 
and winding pathway by which she must ascend 
to the platform upon which he stood. This once 
gained, she had a complete view of the resting place 
of her mysterious guide. 

Immediately fronting the platform was a natural 
doorway, about as high as her own head, leading 
into the inner chamber. From the high and vault- 
ed arches hung thousands of the fantastic creations 
of hoary time, and from the centre of these a cord 
swung into the middle of the area, to which was 
suspended a burning lamp, the rays of which were 

VoL. I. 4 


3& CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 

brilliantly reflected from a thousand shining mir- 
rors of nature’s forming. In one corner she dis- 
covered, as they entered, several pieces of fire-arms, 
and against the wall on one side hung huge swords, 
long enough for two-handed weapons to ordinary 
mortals, together with Indian war clubs, mocca- 
sins, wampum, pipes, tomahawks, spears, arrows, 
and other implements of savage warfare. In another 
corner stood a rude bedstead, evidently construct- 
ed by the hands of its nightly occupant, a small 
table, tw'o or three chairs, and a few culinary ar- 
ticles, — some the manufacture of the savages, and 
others the product of civilized ingenuity. By 
far the largest part of one side of the room was 
occupied by coarsely constructed shelves, bear- 
ing many volumes of the most venerable appear- 
ance. One of these was lying open upon the table, 
a pair of horn spectacles upon the page to mark the 
place where the owner had last been engaged. The 
very letters in which it was printed were entire 
strangers to the eyes of our heroine. Some thirty 
yards distant, in the remotest part of the room, a 
little furnace diffused a narrow circle of glowing 
light through its otherwise gloomy precincts. 
These completed the establishment, so far as the 
eye could discover its arrangement. 

When he had led Virginia into the habitable part 
of this area, he placed a chair, and motioned for 
her to be seated, drawing a stool near the table at 
the same time for himself, and resting his head 
upon the palm of his hand. I will not affect 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


39 


ignorance of thy name and person, my daughter, 
nor yet of thy errand here. The first I should 
most certainly have known, if I had not surmised 
the last. Alas ! my child, thou wilt think no 
doubt that I speak in riddles when I tell thee that 
those features have been engraven upon the heart 
of one who has forsworn the world for many a 
long and irksome year. Thou mayest well look 
amazed, my poor bewildered child, but it is true ! 
I cannot explain it to thee now, however ; some 
day perhaps thou mayest know all. Oh, if thou 
couldst imagine what events must take place in this 
little isolated world around Jamestown, before the 
mysteries of which I speak can rightfully be made 
clear to thee, thou wouldst fall upon thy knees and 
pray that such disastrous knowledge might never 
come to thy understanding !” 

As his eye rested from time to time, while he 
spoke, upon the features of the beautiful girl, he 
covered his face with his hands, and seemed for 
an instant to give way to an agitation similar to 
that which unnerved him at her first appearpce on 
the platform. Occasionally too, when not speak- 
ing himself, he became profoundly abstracted for a 
moment, and his eye was wild and restless, and 
not a little alarming to his gentle visiter, as it ever 
and anon fell upon herself, and seemed to gather in 
her face the solution of some subtle doubt of his 
troubled mind. But observing that his glances, 
wild as they were, always became humanized and 
softened as they rested upon her face, she seized 


40 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


the first opportunity to complete the object of her 
journey, not well knowing how it might termi- 
nate, being herself ignorant of its especial object, 
and indeed of the very nature of the threatened 
danger. 

Father, I came here to seek your aid and pro- 
tection for those who are near and dear to me ; 
My honoured parents — my mother^’r — she would 
have proceeded, but at the mention of her mother’s 
name he was seized with such a convulsive shudder 
that she paused in astonishment. It seemed as if 
the hand of death was already laying its cold grasp 
upon his vitals. His eye gleamed wildly — his lips 
trembled, and his hands shook as one stricken with 
the palsy, or overwhelmed by some sudden stroke 
of calamity. By a desperate effort of resolution, 
he speedily resumed his attention to the discourse, 
and she proceeded : ‘‘I have been advised and 

urged in my resort to this step by one no^: unknown 
to you, - under the vain hope, I fear, that you were 
cognizant of some threatened danger to my dear 
parents and kindred, and that you would commu- 
nicate the knowledge to me rather than to him.” 

As I have already said, my daughter, I sur- 
mised that something of this nature was the object 
of thy visit, and I will now confess to thee that 
this appeal places me in an embarrassing position 
between some friends of former and better days 
and my desire to grant thy request.” Pausing and 
apparently soliloquizing, he continued : ‘‘ But 

have they not acted against my advice ? Did I not 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


41 


tell them, that we had had enough of that already ? 
Did I not warn them against this very result ? I 
cannot betray them, however ; no, no, my old 
comrades, I will give you another warning, and 
then your blood, if it must flow, be upon your 
own heads.” He was about to resume his discourse 
to his visiter, but stopping suddenly and raising 
his finger in the attitude of one listening in the 
profoundest attention, he seized the small lamp, 
rushed past the little furnace in the direction of the 
cave through the hill opposite the entrance, at one 
time rising and anon descending, until Virginia 
(who had followed, fearing to be left alone) sup- 
posed they must be again near the surface of the 
earth. He paused once more to listen, motioning 
her at the same time to be silent. He had scarce- 
ly done so, when the distant sound of running wa- 
ter struck upon her ear, — sometimes distinct, and 
again as if buried in the bowels of the earth. Then 
came the noise as of a stone splashing in the wa- 
ter. The eye of the Recluse sparkled as he turn- 
ed with a quick and expressive glance towards his 
companion. He hastily applied his ear to the^ibcky 
side of the cavern and listened for a second, then 
hurried back, taking Virginia by the hand in his 
return, and leading her to her former seat. He 
then busied himself for a few moments in exchang- 
ing the short cutlass by his side for one of the huge 
weapons hanging on the wall, and placed a pair of 
large and richly inlaid petronels in his belt, as if 
about to march on some secret and desperate expedi- 
tion. 


42 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Whether these were really for such a purpose^ 
or were his usual preparations for repose, Virgi* 
Ilia was entirely at a loss to determine. Meantime 
she had an opportunity to survey the features and 
expression of his countenance, as he from time to 
time faced towards her, intently engaged with 
his occupation, and muttering all the while words 
to her altogether inexplicable at the time. 

His large and light blue eye had an expression 
of forced resignation and calmness, drops of cold 
perspiration stood upon his brow, lip, and bald 
head, which was now uncovered. His features 
were large and striking, but well proportioned, the 
lips protuberant, the teeth large, white and regular, 
and as a smile, indicative more of wretchedness than 
mirth, played upon his face, the impression was 
irresistible that the wrinkles which marked his fea- 
tures were the impress of suffering rather than of 
age. In his personal as well as mental attributes 
he was eminently gifted, though there seemed t& 
be a settled design, as much to clothe the one in 
the garb of age, as to exhibit the other, if at all, in 
meekness and humility. 

It is not consistent with my duty to all parties 
in this business, my daughter, to enlighten thee as 
to the nature of the danger which threatens thy 
friends, or as to the means of preventing it. I owe 
it to myself, first to warn those from whom it 
comes, yet once more against their undertaking, 
as I have already done — but thus far in vain. If 
they are still deaf to] my admonition and, entrea- 
ties, rest assured that I will leave no power or in- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


43 


fluence within my control unexerted to thwart 
their purposes. Thou mayest therefore direct him 
who must have conducted thee hither, to see me 
early on the morrow, and I will inform him as to 
the result of my endeavours and the best means to 
pursue in case they are unsuccessful. Rest thou 
contented yet a little while ; I see thou art im- 
patient, but I have some things to say to thee con- 
cerning other matters than those which brought 
thee hither. I see thou art studying these evi- 
dences of years in my features as the forester ex- 
amines the rings in the fallen tree to estimate its 
age, but these (pointing to the wrinkles) are records 
which years alone could not have wrought. Few 
of us, my daughter, can read these marks of time 
and destiny, and trace through them one by one, 
the disappointed hopes, the cruel mishaps, the 
hair-breadth adventures, their failure, sealed per- 
haps in the blood of those who had basked together 
with us in sunshine of youth and hope, with- 
out a sinking of the heart within us, and a deep 
sense of the utter worthlessness of all those gay 
illusions which beam so brightly on thy own youth- 
ful features. 

‘‘I allude to this subject now, my daughter, be- 
cause there seems to be some connexion between 
it and the one upon which I have been so anxious 
to commune with thee. Although we have never 
met before, it is not the first time I have seen thee, 
nor is this, which thou hast given me, the first in- 
formation I have received concerning thee and 


44 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


thine. I have taken some pains to learn even the 
minutest circumstances connected with thy past 
history, present occupation and future prospects. 
I see thy surprise, but it was not done in idle gos- 
sip thou mayest be well assured. My motives will 
all be made plain enough to thee some day. In the 
mean time I must approach a subject which I fear 
will give thee pain, but my duty is imperative, I 
mean the state of thy mind and feelings.’’ 

‘‘ Alas, father, I fear you will find them but too 
deeply engrossed with the cares and pleasures of 
this world.” 

“ Thy mistake is a natural one,” said he, (one 
of those smiles of wretchedness passing over his 
pale countenance, as a flash of electricity darting 
along the horizon sometimes shows us the extent 
and depth of the darkness beyond) ^‘my situation 
and past misfortunes would indeed seem to fit me 
for a teacher of holy things, but my present busi- 
ness is with thy worldly affections. St?irtnot, my 
daughter ; I have the most urgent reasons which a 
mortal can have for thus endeavouring to intrude 
myself into thy feminine secrets ; believe me, no 
trifling cause could impel me thus to startle thy 
maidenly delicacy, nor indeed needest thou be 
startled on one account which I see agitates thee. 
Thou very naturally supposest me to have some 
charge to bring against thee for want of proper 
spirit and maidenly reserve ; I see it by thy 
blushes ; but there is no such thought within my 
breast; thou mayest have been even more guarded 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


45 


than is customary with females of thy age. My 
business is with facts, and facts of such a nature 
that however stubborn they may be, I fear that 
thou art unconscious of them, though they relate to 
thyself and one other person only. However, with- 
out bringing thee to confessional, I think I can suf- 
ficiently put' thee upon' thy guard without wound- 
ing thy deli^cy.'*^ The’ only question in my own 
mind is, whether the time to speak has not already 
passed.” ' ' ' • 

I am at a loss to comprehend you, father.” 

‘‘I will speak more plainly then. Thou hast been 
associating for some years with a youth of little 
more than thine own age. ' He is noble and gifted 
with every manly and generous attribute ; well 
instructed too for his time and country. To thee 
I will give credit for corresponding qualities suita- 
ble to thy own sex, and I have no doubt that thou 
possessest them. Thinkest' thou then that two 
such persons could grow up together constantly 
within the influence of each other’s expanding per- 
sonal attractions, besides the nobler ones of ‘rnind 
and heart, without feeling more towar'ds each other 
than two ordinary mortals of the same sex ? Oh, I 
see the crimson tell-tale mounting in thy cheeks ; 
thou hangest thy head too in tacit acknowledge- 
ment, that I have surmised no more than. the truth.” 

His visiter for some time made a vain effort to 
speak, and at length overcoming her confusion and 
surprise, in broken sentenced exclaimed, “ Indeed, 
indeed, father, you wrong me ! indeed you wrong 


46 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


US both ! such a subject was never mentioned be-* 
tween us to this hour ! Nay more, it never entered 
our,” — as she looked up and perceived his search- 
ing glance riveted upon her countenance, her head 
again sunk in embarrassment, and the words died 
upon her lips. 

‘‘ Cease, cease, my daughter, to punish thyself. 
I will give thee credit for all thou wouldst say. 
I am willing to believe that neither of ^ou has ever 
mentioned this subject, and perhaps that neither has 
ever been conscious of more than a brotherly af- 
fection towards the other. Nevertheless, the last 
half hour has fully convinced me that self-exami- 
nation, some sudden prospect of separation, or some 
untoward circumstance in the ordinary current of 
your intercourse was only necessary to awaken 
both to the perception of the truth. But my busi- 
ness now is of a far more painful nature than the 
mere finding of the facts. I am bound in duty to 
warn thee ! solemnly warn the© that this passion 
must he subdued in its inception. I beg of thee 
not to suppose for one moment, that my warning has 
reference merely to obstacles which commonly ob- 
struct the current of young and mutual affection ! 
They are absolutely insurmountable, — far more so 
than any that could arise from difference of rank, 
or faith, or country ! Nay, if death itself had put its 
seal upon one or both, the gulf could not have 
been more impassable !’’ His language began gra- 
dually to grow more impassioned, his eye shot 
forth a continued instead of occasional gleam of 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


47 


wildness— he rose upon his feet, and as he pro- 
nounced the barrier to be impassable, he took 
down a large and ancient manuscript volume, 
bound in leather, threw it open upon the table, 
and to her astonishment a bloody hand was all 
that was visible upon the page which seemed to 
have been accidentally turned up. He pointed to 
this singular sign-manual — his finger trembling 
with emotion — See there,” said he— see what 
it is to neglect a solemn warning. There is the 
diary of my eventful life — the transactions of 
every day for more than twenty-seven years are 
there written, save one! There is the only record 
of that day ! Its history is written in blood ! 
The seal of Cain is stamped upon all the events of 
the succeeding pages. Since that bloody token 
was placed there, its author has been a wanderer 
and an outcast. I was born among the haughty 
and the proud of a proud land — there is my coat 
of arms,” said he, with a horrid laugh which sent 
the blood coursing back to the heart of our hero- 
ine chilled and horrified. ‘‘These are not or should 
not be uninteresting records to thee ! — had that 
crimson attestation never been imprinted there, 
thou wouldst never have been born ! but this will 
suffice for the first lesson,” (and he closed the 
book and replaced it upon the shelf ;) “ at some 
more convenient season I will reveal another 
page of the history of one with whom henceforth 
thou wilt be more connected than thou now ima- 
ginest. Now, my daughter, before thou takest 


48 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


leave, let me entreat thee to remember and pondei' 
well upon what I have said to thee. Shouldst 
thou ever be in any sudden strait of danger or 
difficulty send to me a memento of the bloody 
seal and I will come to thee, if within the compass 
of mortal means: and remember likewise, should I 
ever send such an emblem to thee — pause well upon 
what thou art about to do. Novy thpu mayest 
depart in peace, but say nothing of what thou hast 
seen or heard farther than I have directed thee to 
do.” And thus speaking he took the. lamp and 
conducted her out by the same opening at which 
they had entered. 

They stood upon the platform overlooking the 
shadowy mazes of moonlit foliage down the glen; 
all nature was as silent as when it first came 
from the hands of its Creator. Looking towards 
heaven, and placing his hand upon her flaxen 
ringlets, now wafted about in the richest reflec- 
tions and deepest contrasts of light and shadow, 
as a cold breeze from the valley beneath sought an 
opening to the plains beyond, he said, ‘‘May 
God Almighty bless and preserve thee, rny daugh- 
ter !” And then led her some distance down the 
hill — bade her adieu, and left her to seek her more 
youthful guide, and to ponder upon some novel 
and not very pleasing passages in the diary of her 
own experience. 

Her ideas were any thing but clear and definite. 
The whole scene of her late interview was^so 
new — the subject so startling to her young and in- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


49 


nate delicacy. Taking it for granted, however, 
that all the surmises of the Recluse were true with 
regard to herself, that person has studied human 
nature to little purpose, who supposes that she, 
after all that had been so solemnly announced, ad- 
mitted the undefined obstacles mentioned to be as 
insuperable as the person who suggested them 
seemed to imagine. Nevertheless an injunction so 
grave and authoritative had its minor efiects — the 
first of which were visited upon the head of our 
hero, who impatiently awaited her approach at 
the foot of the hill. 


VoL. I. 


5 


50 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


CHAPTER V. 

When Virginia arrived at the foot of the hill^ 
and looked back, she could see the Herculean 
figure of the Recluse, throwing its tall shadow far 
down the face of the cliff, as he paced his narrow 
court exactly as she had found him doing. 

The surrounding scenery now looked doubly 
brilliant to her confused senses, after the gloomy 
contrasts of her late subterranean journey. The 
fleeting clouds were entirely dispersed, and the 
moonbeams shone clearly forth in undimmed 
splendour, tipping with silver light each tree and 
shrub, on the hill side and in the dale, and sparkling 
like gems along the rippling current of the purl- 
ing brook on the banks of which Bacon waited 
her approach. 

Although the language of the Recluse was some- 
what dark and oracular, itVas sufiiciently ex- 
plicit to produce a very sensible effect upon the 
mind of Virginia, which our hero was not long 
in discovering; for as he extended his hand to as- 
sist her across the brook, she tacitly declined the 
proffered aid, as if unobservant of his intention, 
and leaped the streamlet unassisted. He was the 
rhore astonished, that in the whole of their long 
intercourse he could not recollect such a whim or 
freak occurring towards himself. She seemed re- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


5t 


served and formal too, as they moved up the oppo- 
site hill; but without remarking on her altered 
mood, he sought to drawfrom her the result of her 
expedition. Barely communicating so much as 
she had been directed to do, however, she remain- 
ed to him inexplicably silent. 

While he was revolving these things in his mind 
his companion, silently and moodily walking at his 
side, without availing herself of his offered arm, 
they met Brian O’Reily somewhat farther down 
the hill than the spot where they had left him — 
the bridle of a horse slung upon each arm — a 
handkerchief tied round his waist, into which were 
stuck two pertronels from his own saddlebow; 
and in his hand his master’s, ready for use. 

‘‘In the name of all the saints in Ireland, 
what is the matter, Brian exclaimed Bacon. 

‘‘ Oh ! an be the Holy Father at Rome, is it 
there ye are ? Sure as death, but I’m the boy 
that thought ye were clane murthered iny way.” 

“Murdered! why who was to murder us ?” 

“ Faix, an there’s enough iv them to do that same 
in this bloody place. Barrin the tay party wid the 
great inimy in the side iv the hill yonther, a’int 
there enough iv the bloody nagurs (the savages,) 
ranting about like so many wild bastes, ready to 
peale the tap iv your heads like a pair of onions 
or murpheys — divil ^a word a lie’s in that iny 
way.” 

“Are there any of the savages abroad to-night?” 

<< Be the contints iv the book, but there is five 


52 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


yallow rascals gone over the hill towards the city 
half an hour since. Oh, by my purty, but I was 
as near putting a key note to one of their whistles, 
as two tin pinnies, only, that I was jalous iv your 
own safety, and the beauty by your side at that 
same reckning.’’ 

I commend your discretion in not shooting — 
and I wonder at your sobriety, considering the 
condition in which we left you.’^ 

‘‘ Oh, is it Brian O’Reily’s discretion your ha- 
ner’s after namin? — an is’nt it me that’s apathern 
o’ sobriety ? Oh, by the five crasses, but it all 
comes iv the dhrap o’ the crathur I got by the 
larnin iv you, ye beauty; divil a word a lie’s in 
that.” 

Gone towards the town have they?” said Ba- 
con, musing — and then examining the priming 
of his petronels, he took them — placed them in 
their holsters, and mounted his horse, motioning 
to his attendant at the same time, to assist Virginia 
to the pillion. She being mounted, he continued 
his discourse to her. Keep up your courage my 
brave pupil ; no danger shall molest you unen- 
countered.” 

“ Strange ks it may appear,” replied she, for the 
first time uttering something more than a mono- 
syllable. “ The real danger in which we seem 
placed, has few terrors, after my late subterra- 
nean visit.” This last part of the sentence was said 
in an under tone, as they cantered over the hill. 

<^You have done bravely, Virginia, and now 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


53 


Brian it is our turn. Do you ride foremost — 
but on no account pull trigger, or draw your 
sword, without my orders. We are at peace with 
the confederated tribes of the peninsula: — should 
the party therefore prove to be any of these, 
bloodshed will be unnecessary. Remember, and 
be watchful!” 

^‘Oh! be the powers iv mud and darkness, but 
there’s no more profit in watchin these skulking 
nagurs, than there is in<spakin to the fish to make 
them take the bate; both the one and the tother o’ 
them bites when ytju laste expect it. Oh! 
would’nt it be a fine thing to have a praste to walk 
along afore ye wid the continls of the book spread 
out before him?” 

‘^Get along O’Reily with your nonsense; one 
would suppose, to hear you talk, that you were 
the greatest coward in Christendom.” 

The conversation of the Hibernian was at all 
times amusing to our adventurers, and was en- 
joyed with more zest, doubtless, on account of the 
many excellent qualities which they knew him to 
possess, being as they knew, brave, devotedly at- 
tached to them both, and of unvarying good hu- 
mour. On the present occasion. Bacon encouraged 
his volubility in order to divert his companion’s 
attention from dwelling upon the danger which 
he but too clearly saw might await them on their 
passage to the city; and thus was the time be- 
guiled, until they arrived at the top of the hill 
commanding the town and river, without encoun-. 


54 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


tering a single foe, or meeting with any adven- 
ture worth recording. As they descended 
towards the river, and O’Reily, was‘ just felicitat- 
ing himself that there was a clane path intirely 
across the stream.’^ A sudden exclamation of 
surprise from Bacon, induced him to rein up his 
steed, in order to ascertain the cause. This how- 
ever was clearly seen before the retrograde move- 
ment was completed. 

‘‘Oh! the murtherin thaves iv the world,” said 
O’Reily, “there they are in our boat too, as sure as 
my name’s Brian O’Reily. Yourhaner’s a goodshot 
across that same little river, any way, and by 
these pair o’ beauties that never lie nor chate” he 
continued, unslinging his arms, “but Pll be bound 
for a couple or three more iv them. By the vest- 
ments but we’ll put some o’ them to slape, wid a 
tune that’ll ring in their ears to the day o’ their 
deaths.” 

“Softly! softly, O’Reily” said Bacon, “you 
are as far on the one extreme now as I thought 
you on the other a while ago. Don’t you see that 
two watch on this. side, besides the three in the 
boat? And as I live, they are preparing to push off. 
Quick, Brian, dismount and follow me behind these 
bushes! we must despatch these two, at least, 
without the use of firearms. And you, my gen- 
tle pupil, must remain with the horses. If we 
fall, remain quiet until they have carried off what- 
ever it is they are endeavouring to steal, and then 
leave the horses and seek a passage by the bridge. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRIGINIA. 55 

I know your situation is a trying one, but it is the 
best we can do under the circumstances.’^ 

‘‘Oh! no, no, Nathaniel!” said Virginia, sudden- 
ly recovering her feelings as well as her voice. “ It 
is not the best we can do. Stay here yourself, and 
I can slip round, unperceived, to the gate of the 
bridge, and from thence alarm the city. Do, Na- 
thaniel, suffer me to go.” 

“ Not for worlds !” answered Bacon ; “ do you 
not perceive that it would be impossible for you 
to pass the two on this side unnoticed? Besides, 
were you even to gain the gate, they w^ould toma- 
hawk you before you could arouse one person in 
the town. No, no, you must remain. Seat your- 
self on the sward and hide your eyes, if you will, 
until we despatch these two, and then we can hold 
the others at bay.” 

“But what is the necessity of attacking them at 
all, Nathaniel?” 

“Do you not see that they have been commit- 
ting some depredation.^ — perhaps v/orse, and would 
be sure to make fight were we to show ourselves 
in so small force. But come, O’Reily, we are los- 
ing precious time; follow me, and for your life do 
not shoot.” 

This short and earnest dialogue was held in 
whispers, and in much less time than we have 
taken to record it. 

The precaution against using firearms was doubt- 
less given for fear of betraying to the inhabitants 


56 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


of the town the delicate and apparently equivocal 
position in which Virginia was placed. ‘‘We 
must be upon these two with our good swords, O’ 
Reily,” said Bacon, “ before the others can join 
them, and if possible before they perceive us.” 

“Devil burn me but my hand itches to get ac- 
quainted wid the taste o’ their skulls any way. 
Oh ! if we can only smash these two but we’ll keep 
the others to see their own funerals iny way.” 

In a few moments. Bacon and his trusty follow- 
er were silently gliding through the bushes on the 
banks of the river, and advanced to within a few 
rods of the savages, unperceived either by the 
party on the beach or those loading the boat on the 
opposite shore. But as they were just emerging 
from the last bush which protected their move- 
ments, a characteristic and startling exclamation 
“hugh!” from the watch stationed in the boat, at 
once precipitated their movements, and put the two 
on their guard whom they were about to attack. 

There was at that day no male inhabitant of 
Jamestown or the surrounding Colony, arrived 
at the years and vigour of manhood, who was en- 
tirely unacquainted with the mode and usual end 
of Indian warfare. Of course, on such occasions 
as the present, the contest was for life or death. 

Bacon, notwithstanding his youth, had already 
acquired some renown as a warrior in these des- 
perate single-handed conflicts, which doubtless gave 
him and his companion more assurance of success 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


57 


on this occasion, notwithstanding the fearful odds 
which it was possible might be brought against 
them. Springing upon their adversaries, who, as 
has been seen, were on their guard, the conflict at 
once became desperate, while those in the boat 
made the utmost efforts to join their companions 
and overpower their unexpected enemies. No 
sooner were the two good swords of Bacon and 
O’Reily flashing in the moonbeams, than corres- 
ponding motions of the savage war clubs gave evi- 
dence that they also were ready for battle. Many 
and hard were the blows which were given on 
both sides in the struggle, a mere protraction of 
which Bacon perceived was destruction. Ac- 
cordingly bracing up his own nerves, and cheer- 
ing O^Reily, he made a vigorous and successful 
lunge at his immediate antagonist, but not before 
the reinforcement of the enemy was on the ground 
to take his j^lace. A contest of this kind, when 
the parties were any thing like equal in number, 
was generally not long doubtful — victory in most 
instances being upon the side of superior skill and 
weapons. But O’Reily, although a veteran sol- 
dier, had met his match in this instance, his an- 
tagonist being a tall and brawny warrior of most 
fearful proportions. Yet he laid about him stout- 
ly, while Bacon, merely having time to catch his 
breath, renewed the unequal contest with two of 
the new assailants, the third at the same time join- 
ing his already too powerful .chief against the 
Irishman. The conflict was now desperate and 


68 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


bloody; our adventurers fought well and skilfully, 
every blow was followed by a crimson stream, and 
they too in their turn were more than once beaten to 
their knees by the terrific sweep of the war clubs. 
At one time Bacon was entirely prostrated, but in- 
stantly recovering and rising to his knees he con- 
tinued to defend himself until he had once more 
regained his feet. 

This warfare had now lasted for some minutes, 
which seemed an age to the trembling maiden who 
stood an unwilling yet enchained spectator on the 
side of the hill above them. But victory appeared 
at length about to crown the desperate efibrts of 
her friends, whose assailants were now reduced to 
exactly their own number, and one, the^ tall old 
chief opposed to Brian, covered with his own 
blood and just ready to fall, when a sudden and 
terrific yell immediately behind them announced 
a reinforcement; and Virginia sank upon the 
earth in terror and despair. 

Plunge into the stream and swim for your life.”" 
shouted Brian — ‘‘Oh! but I’ll keep their hands 
busy till ye go clear, even wid a stack of the yel- 
low devils afore me!” 

Six horrid and painted human monsters, (so they 
seemed to our adventurers) now leaped into the 
midst of the conflict, relieving their own brethren 
and thundering their blows upon the heads of their 
already exhausted adversaries. In vain they made 
furious lunges, forgetting the cunning of fence iti. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


69 


the perfect desperation of the hopeless conflict. At 
length they both fell under the weapons of their new 
enemies and two of the savages, flashing their knives 
from their sheaths, prepared to complete the sacri- 
fice; indeed a despairing yell from O’Reily an- 
nounced that the butchery had already commenced; 
when in an instant the head of the old Chief stoop- 
ing over him was severed from the trunk, and in 
the next a second blow from the same gigantic arm 
prostrated the one about to tear the bloody trophy 
from the fallen Cavalier. 

Virginia had by this time ventured another des- 
pairing look upon the fate of him who was the 
cherished companion of ber childhood. In that 
moment, doubtless, all the warnings and injunc- 
tions of the Recluse were forgotten, or if remem- 
bered, instantly set aside as the oyer prudential 
suggestions of pride in rank, or wealth, or power, 
governing the feelings of her friends, or of him 
who undertook to give her counsel in their stead. 

But there were still enemies left besides the two 
who had flourished the scalping knife over our 
prostrate adventurers. With these the Recluse 
(for he it was who had come so opportunely to 
the rescue) at once renewed the conflict. Plac- 
ing his back against a tree, and throwing away 
his castor and scabbard, he joined in the striie 
with a zest like that of an epicure who bares his 
arm to the exercise of the carving knive — whirl- 
ing his enormous weapon amidst the falling clubs 
with the precision, ease and coolness of a pro- 


60 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


fessor exhibiting his skill with the harmless foils. 
His first exertions were, of course, on the de- 
fensive, among so many assailants, but if his blows 
were rare they were sure and fatal. He was evi- 
dently but putting in practice a sort of exercise 
in which he must have both delighted and ex- 
celled in days long past. 

At every blow or thrust a savage went down to 
rise no more, Bacon, too, now rallied his scattered 
senses and exhausted strength, and resumed his 
part in the conflict, with enough of both to render 
him a valuable auxiliary in the way of defence, 
which the Recluse perceiving, sprang into the 
midst of the enemy and speedily put to flight, or 
the sword, the exhausted and disheartened rem- 
nant. When Virginia saw this devoutly-prayed- 
for termination to the battle, she sank upon the 
ground as powerless and exhausted as if she too 
had been actively engaged. The Recluse stooping 
over O’Reily and feeling his head and wi'ist, has- 
tened to the boat, and seizing the wooden vessel 
with which the water was usually bailed out, re- 
turned and bathed his face and temples. Not so 
swift were his motions however as to prevent his 
stopping for a moment at the boat and gazing with 
astonishment at something which it contained ; but 
there was little time for wonder, and he hastened 
on his errand. When Brian’s face was cleansed 
from blood it was found that the scalping knife of 
the old warrior had probably been struck from its 
intended destination so that the point had caught 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


61 


an one corner of his mouth and inflicted a wound of 
some magnitude across his face. While he was 
thus attended, Bacon hastened, with what speed he 
was able to exert, toward the spot where he had 
left his helpless companion. He found her just 
recovering from the listless stupor in which we 
left her. ‘‘Oh, Nathaniel!^’ was all that she was 
enabled to articulate as she fell into his arms, for- 
getting in the deep excitment of the moment every 
feeling save the strong and innocent affection 
which had so long existed between them. 

Bacon placed her upon his horse, and taking 
the bridle in one hand, and holding her steady in 
her seat with the other, proceeded to the scene of 
the late mortal struggle. They found O’Reily 
sitting up, with his mouth already bandaged, and 
his late assistant and protector gone, having first, 
as Brian indistinctly muttered, pointed to the boat, 
as if there were something there which craved at- 
tention. Their own perceptions were now startled 
from the same quarter, by the sound of groans. 
Bacon ran to the spot, and found a female bound, 
and lying upon her face in the bottom of the boat. 
Having cut the cords and bathed her swollen face 
and temples, he speedily restored her to something 
like consciousness, and then bore her to the shore 
and laid her upon the ground. O’Reily now 
recognised her as Mrs. Jamieson, wife of Jamie 
Jamieson, principal fisherman to the town, whose 
hut, for convenient purposes in his avocation, was 
situated without the protection of the fort. This 
VoL. I. 6 


^2 CAVALIEHS OF VIRGINIA^ 

statement also accounted to Bacon for the presence 
of a quantity of fish netting in the boat, which 
doubtless excited the cupidity pf the poor igno- 
rant savages, who lay cold and lifeless at his feet. 

New embarrassments seemed to stare our wan- 
derers in the face at every step on this eventful 
night. Scarcely was O’Reily restored to his 
senses, and Mrs. Jamieson to such a state as lo 
give hopes of recovery, when it occurred to our 
hero that something must be done with the dead 
bodies. But when he came to reflect upon the 
appearance which the battle ground itself would 
present, he determined to leave the rest to chance, 
and to say nothing himself or through his follower, 
and thus leave the gossips of the town to account 
for the slaughter of the Indians as they might. 
Mrs. Jamieson was now carefully replaced in the 
boat, jind O’Reily assisted to his post at the tiller^ 
Vrhile Bacon, having seated Virginia, occupied 
Brian’s usual place at the oar, being the least in- 
jured of the two. 

The former Was for once in his life perfectly 
silent, perhaps owing to the awkward accident 
which had happened to his mouth, thereby render- 
ing it difficult for him to enunciate with the true 
Hibernian pathos. 

The females having been landed. Bacon desiring 
Virginia to sit by the still benumbed Mrs. Jamie- 
son, returned for his horses, which were led by the 
side of the boat without any difficulty. 

The whole party now proceeded to the fisher- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


63 


man’s hut, Bacon supporting the feeble steps of its 
exhausted mistress. Here a new disaster awaited 
them. A few yards from the house towards the 
river, they discovered the body of the fisherman 
himself, cold, stiff, and lifeless. O’Reily was 
directed to remain with the woman of the house 
until she should completely recover her senses, 
but on no account to stay longer, or enter into 
any explanations. 

Bacon and Virginia entered the gate of the fort 
unchallenged, and proceeded to the house of Mr. 
Fairfax, when the latter entered as quietly and as 
unperceived as she had /sallied forth; while he 
officiated as ostler to his own steed, which service 
being finished to his satisfaction he sought his 
apartment; the morning being far advanced towards 
the dawn of day. His slumbers, it may be readily 
imagined, were not profound and undisturbed, — 
the restless nervousness of over exertion in mind 
and body, being very similar in its effects to that 
of too much repose, 


64 


XJAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


CHAPTER V. 


On the morning of the Anniversary of the Re- 
storation, the sun was just emerging above the 
eastern horizon, the sky was unclouded and serene, 
the air balmy and elastic, and the volumes of misty 
drapery from the river were fast rolling away over 
the hills, as the Recluse stood upon one of the 
highest points of the river cliffs, with folded arms, 
surveying the scene around him. 

Far back as the eye could reach to the west, all 
was interminable forest — the foreground exhibiting 
occasional specks of cleared land, where some 
planter, more adventurous than his fellows, had 
boldly trusted his fortunes to the mercy of the 
savage. 

He looked upon the little city beneath, as the 
weary mariner on a long voyage may be sup- 
posed to look upon a green island in the midst of 
a desertof waters. His chest heaved as the swell- 
ing emotions of pent up years burst from his over- 
loaded heart. Bacon, the manly and ingenuous 
youth, whom the reader will remember as having 
been appointed to visit him on this morning, had just 
sprung upon a mettled and pawing charger, which 
was now throwing the fire and pebbles from his 
heels in thick volleys, as his master with a fir e 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


65 


and impetuosity scarcely inferior to his own, bent 
over his uncurbed neck as he descended into the 
plain. Several pieces of light artillery, together 
with volleys of musketry in quick succession, 
thundered over the smooth waters of the Powha- 
tan, and reverberated in multiplied peals under the 
feet of the Recluse. There was something con- 
nected with this day, and its celebration, which 
seemed powerfully to have stirred up the still 
waters within him. Thick coming fancies con- 
nected with by-gone days were rolling over his 
soul in an uncontrolled torrent. But we must 
leave him for a time to his own reflections, amidst 
the solitary grandeur of the scene, while we pursue 
the road of the flying Cavalier towards the city. 

The bells from the Church and State House were 
now also heard in the intervals of the cannonade, 
and as we approach nearer to the scene, a strange 
confusion of many sounds greet the ear. Drums 
and fifes, violins and banjoes, and even jews-harps, 
all lent their aid to swell the burst of joy and 
gratulation. Smiling and happy faces were group- 
ed along the streets, while gay damsels, in their 
holyday finery, adorned the doors and windows of 
the busy citizens. A perfect Babel of commingled 
noises issued from the spacious area of a tobacco 
warehouse, which, after the usual fashion, consist- 
ed of an extensive roof, supported by colonnades to 
every front. Here was congregrated the risihg 
generation — boisterous and happy in the midst of 
their games and sports. No schoolmaster was 
6 * 


66 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


abroad on that day, to rush in upon the unwary 
urchins, and wreak upon them the vengeance of 
Samson upon the Philistines. 

Our forefathers suffered their children to follow 
very much their own humours in the selection 
of those amusements suited to their age and con- 
dition. We see not but the result was as happy 
as that of the systems of our day, when every 
thing is regulated by system, even to the games 
and amusements of our children. The time is 
certainly not far distant when Geography will be 
taught by a game at cards ; Chemistry by set con- 
versations upon the constituents of our edibles, 
and Natural Philosophy developed in nursery 
rhymes, that we may imbibe it with our lullabies. 

On the morning in question, as merry a set of 
boisterous lads kicked up the dust in the old ware- 
house, as ever fought over a game of marbles, or 
laughed through one of leap-frog. And while the 
merry urchins, whom we have taken under our 
special protection, were thus enjoying a glorious 
holyday, their elders and superiors were moved 
by the same impulses. The mansion of the 
Governor itself was in visible commotion ; ser- 
vants swelling with importance, aped the grandeur 
of their masters’ looks, while they ran from room 
to room on their various duties. A provincial 
band of music was stationed under the windows, 
uniting their sweet sounds to the Babel-like up- 
roar, in the well known tune of ‘‘Over the waters 
to Charley.” 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


67 


There was one little green spot upon the common 
inviting the contemplative mind to pleasing re- 
veries. Here a few of the humbler maidens of 
the city were adorning the overhanging bushes 
with gay garlands of flowers, preparatory to the 
evening dance, which they contemplated celebrat- 
ing in imitation of their superiors, who were to 
move in more stately measures at the mansion of 
the Governor. 

The household of Gideon Fairfax was likewise 
earlier than usual on the alert, and he being one of 
the council of the Colony, came in also for a share 
of the honours noised forth under the windows of 
the most distinguished Cavaliers. 

Breakfast had been some time waiting at the 
table, and the fondly indulged daughter had been 
repeatedly summoned, but still she came not. 
This excited the more surprise in the minds of 
her parents, as they supposed, that on this 
eventful morning, of all others in the year, she 
would be up with the lark. The truth was, that 
after retiring at such an unusual hour of the 
night, or rather morning — her slumbers were dis-» 
turbed between sleeping and waking, by shadowy 
dreams of yelling savages, chivalrous youths, and 
mighty giants. 

At length, however, she appeared, but instead 
of bounding into the room with gay and elastic 
steps, and more buoyant spirits, in happy anticipa^ 
tion of the promised enjoyments of the day, her 
movements were slow and heavy — her eyes red 


68 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


and swollen, and her whole appearance indicative 
of languor and dejec^on. Her fond parents were 
instantly at her side — each taking a hand as she 
walked into the room, and striving to learn from 
the fancied invalid the nature of her sufferings. 
She assured them that she had nothing to complain 
of but want of rest, and with this they were the 
more readily satisfied, as towards morning there 
had indeed been much firing of guns, and other 
demonstrations of loyalty. Her parents being 
thus satisfied, that her account of the matter was 
the true one, Virginia was suffered to assume her 
place at the head of the table — a place she had 
for some time occupied on account of the delicate 
state of her mother’s health. Meanwhile the 
anxious parents assumed their own places, and 
endeavoured to beguile their daughter’s languor 
by allusions to the merry sounds, and gay group 
without, not forgetting the assembly at the Go- 
vernor’s ; and it is more than probable that they 
would have succeeded, as few spirited and bloom- 
ing beauties of sixteen can long listen unmoved to 
such details, had not Virginia, raising her half 
cheerful face at that moment to a large mirror 
which hung opposite, caught the reflection of a 
person in whose welfare she took a lively interest, 
standing in one corner of the room, and partly 
behind her chair, with a countenance and attitude 
which expressed the deepest misery. This was 
no other that Wyanokee, her own little Indian at- 
tendant, who officiated near the person of her 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


69 


mistress, in a medium capacity between friend 
and servant ; the mistress only requiring the com- 
panion, and the maid spontaneously offering the 
services due both from affection and gratitude. 

The figure of Wyanokee was diminutive, but like 
most of the aboriginal females, exGUisitely propor- 
tioned, and graceful, after the fashion of nature’s 
finest schooling. Her face was oval and between 
a brown and yellow colour, yet there was a vital 
tinge occasionally illuminating this predominant 
dark ground, which bespoke the refined female, 
in language intelligible to all, and far mdre elo- 
quently than the tongue. Her hair was jet black, 
and folded upon her small round head after the 
fashion of the Europeans; and her brilliant teeth 
exhibited a striking contrast to the dark shades of 
her skin, and darker sparkling eyes. The deli- 
cately penciled brows, arched beautifully over a 
countenance strikingly feminine and lady-like; 
and the general expression was that calm sadness 
which has been remarked as characteristic of the 
domesticated aborigines from that day to the pre- 
sent. Her dress was essentially after the fashion 
of the whites of that day, just retaining sufficient 
of the Indian costume, however, to set off her 
slight but graceful figure to the best advantage. 
The exquisite proportions of her finely shaped foot 
and ankle were displayed in a closely fitting deer 
skin moccasin, studded around the eyelet holes, 
and wrought in curious, but not unpleasing figures, 
with party-coloured beads and porcupine quills. 


70 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Around her neck, and falling upon her gently 
swelling bosom, were many ingeniously wrought 
ornaments of wampum and silver — and around 
her wrists, bracelets of the same materials. Wy- 
anokee was of the Chickahominy tribe, and had 
been taken prisoner after the murder of her pa- 
rents by one of the neighbouring tribes, who at 
the time were at war with the Chickahominies. 
Nathaniel Bacon saw her in one of his hunting 
excursions, and struck with her native beauty, and 
pleading countenance, redeemed her from captivi- 
ty at the expense of a string of blue beads. 
From thence he brought her to Jamestown, to re- 
main until some opportunity should occur of 
restoring her to her tribe. Her parents having 
been slain, however, as we have already said, and 
much time necessarily having elapsed before such 
opportunity occurred, Virginia took advantage of 
it, and by mild and affectionate treatment, endea- 
voured to win her to herself. A mutual and pecu- 
liar attachment was the consequence, so that when 
the,, opportunity actually occurred, Wyanokee re- 
fused to return to the almost extinct tribe of her 
fathers. Two years had now elapsed since her 
introduction into the Fairfax family, during which 
time Virginia, an assiduous pupil herself, became 
in her turn instructress to her little protegee. 
Already had she learned many of the little femi- 
nine arts and accomplishments of civilized life, 
and made considerable proficiency in the English 
language — which, however, she never employed 


CAVALIERS Of VIRGINIA. 


71 


Except in private to her instructress, or on some 
urgent occasion. Half the young Cavaliers in 
Jamestown would have been willing devotees at 
the shrine of Wyanok^e’s beauty, after the corrupt 
fashions of the parent court and country. But 
such celebrity was not suited to the taste or ambi- 
tion of the Indian maiden. Whenever the little 
errands of her patroness led her to the shops of 
the city, instead of encouraging the forward and 
impudent gallantries of the young profligates, she 
would trip along like a frightened partridge — 
always turning a deaf ear to their flatteries, ;ind 
keeping her eyes fixed upon the earth, in the 
most modest, natural and simple guise. Not- 
withstanding her habitual indifference to the flat- 
teries of her many admirers, there was one youth 
whose very step upon th(j door sill her practised ear 
could detect. Not that her deliverer had ever taken 
advantage of her gratitude to him — her ignorance 
of civilized refinements, or her dependent situa- 
tion, to poison her mind with the deceitful flatte- 
ries too common with his comrades of that day* 
The passion was perhaps the growth of lime and 
reflection and the effect of gratitude, as the little 
Indian maiden became capable of instituting 
comparisons between his conduct towards herself 
and that of the young Cavaliers, whose assiduities 
have been already mentioned. Certain it is, that 
if it had been from some sudden impulse in their 
earlier intercourse, the customs of her race would 
have fully borne her out in declaring her passion to 


72 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


its object at once. At the lime of which we 
write, however, this feeling was a profound secret 
within her own bosom, as she hoped and believed; 
and the more Virginia impressed upon her mind 
the necessity of reserve and modesty in her inter- 
course' with the other sex, the more jealous she 
became in concealing the passion that possessed 
her heart. Nevertheless, it influenced all her 
after life, and gave a touching interest to the pro- 
gress of her moral and intellectual development. 

Some few of her Indian peculiarities were still 
retained by Wyanokee; her gesticulation was far 
more powerful and expressive than her small com- 
pass of language, and the ordinary indifierence of 
her race to passing and exciting themes, tvas yet 
preserved by her. Her gentle mistress could in- 
deed work upon her sensibilities through the me- 
dium of her affection and gratitude, like a skilful 
musician upon a finely toned instrument, but the 
master key was still wanting even to her. There 
was one peculiarity of her race not quite so agree- 
able or inoffensive as those already mentioned — 
namely, the silence and celerity of her movements; 
sometimes she would appear to Virginia in the 
middle of the night with the imagined abruptness 
of an unearthly spirit. Often would the fair maid- 
en awake from her slumbers and find her stoop- 
ing over her couch — with the saddest and most 
intense interest expressed in her countenance— 
and again she would glide through the silent apart- 
ments of the spacious mansion with a movement 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


73 


shadowy and noiseless, that it seemed almost 
impossible to b^i effected by a substantial being. 

When Virginia raised her eyes from the break- 
fast-table, and beheld Wyanokee’s mute despair, as 
exhibited in the opposite mirror, her former ner- 
vous alarm and agitation instantly returned. 

She was entirely at a loss to account for the un- 
usual feeling exhibited by her attendant, except by 
connecting it in some way with her late nocturnal 
adventures. And it was a fearful supposition 
which flashed through her mind, that Wyanokee 
was acquainted with her last night’s undertaking; 
yet at the same time ignorant of her motives. 
Hurrying mechanically through the meal, she rose, 
and taking the hand of the young Indian, was 
about to retire; but at that moment Nathaniel Ba- 
con rode up to the door, his charger covered with 
dust and foam; leaping from his back and throw- 
ing the rein to an attendant, he entered the room 
at the very moment when the two maidens were 
about to make their exit. Under the peculiar cir- 
cumstances of the case perhaps no one could have 
entered more mal-appropos. Mr. Fairfax himself 
and Baeon had parted, at the termination of their 
last interview, with excited and unpleasant feelings, 
both having lost command of temper. Virginia 
had last seen him under circumstances also which 
in themselves were calculated to excite no very 
pleasing reminiscences ; but considering the pre- 
cise attitude in which she stood at that moment 
with regard to Wyanokee, the interview promised 

VoL. 1. 7 


74 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


to be still more embarrassing. Nor was the pro- 
mise falsified — the salutations bf the gentlemen 
were cold, formal, and embarrassing to both parties^ 
while the two maidetls stood on the eve of depar- 
ture, each labouring under her own peculiar diffi- 
culties. Virginia felt as if all the adventures of 
the preceding night stood revealed to her parents, 
without any of the justificatory motives which had 
satisfied her own mind for embarking in them — 
while her attendant looked to her as if she too 
was labouring under a weight of surreptitious 
knowledge. Mrs. Fairfax was the only one of the 
party who preserved self-possession enough to 
welcome their young friend, after so long an ab- 
sence, in intelligible language. 

With the peculiar tact of the cultivated female 
mind she judiciously led the conversation to such 
subjects of universal interest at the time, as to in- 
duce her husband and the yoiing Cavalier to forget 
their late unpleasant difference, and Virginia to re- 
sume her seat at the table, where she busied her- 
self in helping the visiter to his breakfast. It was 
singular enough too, as Virginia no doubt thought, 
that one of these subjects .should have direct re- 
ference to some personages who had so lately and 
30 intently occupied her own thoughts — namely 
the Roundheads fend Independents. Frank Be- 
verly it seems had already blown abroad the meet- 
ing of these persons in secret conclave, as mention- 
ed in the first chapter. The meal being concluded, 
Bacon again sprang upon his horse and hurried 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


75 


forward to the portico of the Berkley Arms, in 
which were now displayed no very equivocal evi- 
dences of loyalty, from the master of the house 
and his numerous guests, who thronged its area 
upon his approach. All the elite, of the Cavalier 
youth were there in a perfect throng. 

No sooner had Bacon alighted and made his 
way into the throng, than the tumultuous dis- 
cussion of the youths was hushed into silence. 
This was not so much owing to any sternness in the 
dignity of the youth as to the peculiar nature af 
the discussion which was going on between Dudley 
and Beverly, and their several partizans, at the very 
moment of his entrance. The tumblers of julip 
were held in suspense, while heavy bets were of- 
fered, and about to be taken, upon the disputed 
question whether the very person who so suddenly 
appeared among them would be present at the 
celebration. No sooner had he set foot on the 
premises, however, than the fat landlord came wad- 
dling up, grasping the hand of our hero in one of 
his ov/n, while in the other he presented him with 
a goblet of the national beverage. 

‘‘A pledge! a pledge!’^ now resounded from se- 
veral quarters of the well filled Tap. It may well 
be supposed that the suspected one had no very 
great relish for julip after breakfast, but knowing 
the importance of such trifles on an occasion like the 
present, and under all the peculiar circumstances 
in which he was placed, he took the cup, and ele- 


76 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


rating it, said — Here’s to the merry king Charles, 
who shall be king but Charley.” 

‘^Bravely done,” shouted the host — and huzzah 
for Bacon,” shouted his own immediate partisans,, 
many of whom belonged to a volunteer military 
company of which he was the commander, and 
whom to see was the very object of his visit to. 
the Arms. Taking Dudley therefore by the arm, 
and calling to others of the corps, he invited them 
to a private interview in another apartment. As 
Bacon passed Frank Beverly a mutual but cold 
salutation was exchanged — dignified and polite on 
the part of the former, and cold, haughty and sneer- 
ing on that of the latter — the ungracious feeling 
not at all lessened, it is probable, by the pointed ex- 
clusion of Beverly and his partisans from the pri- 
vate meeting just alluded to. 

Although this was Bacon’s first appearance in 
public, since his abrupt departure from the house 
of his friend and patron, it was not the first visit 
he had paid to the hotel, where he and his par- 
tisans now held their meeting. He had privately 
visited the landlord on the preceding evening, pre- 
vious to the adventures related in the last chapter, 
for some purposes connected with the present meet- 
ing of his friends, but which he was by no means 
willing should be generally known. At that visit 
he was informed by the landlord of the m.is- 
chWous plot laid by his rival to deprive him of 
the pleasure of Virginia’s hand during the ap^ 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


77 


proaching festivities at the Mansion of the Go- 
vernor, and his first intention was to counteract their 
machinations. But so intensely had his mind been 
engaged with the adventures of the preceding even- 
ing, that all minor interests escaped his recollection. 
It was the object of his visit on this morning, to 
remedy that oversight; but so cold and formal was 
his reception by Mr. Fairfax, and so embarrassed 
was that of his daughter, that he gave up the scheme 
for the present, leaving the house with any thing 
but pleasant emotions. Indeed, from the various 
combinations of parties and factions, he saw his 
own position becoming hourly mor^ embarrassing 
and difficult, and still more so from the neutral 
position in which he was thrown — partly from the 
mystery connected with his origin, and partly 
from his connexion with the Recluse. But let 
the Independents on the one hand, and the Cava- 
liers on the other, plot and counterplot as they 
might, his course was clearly taken in his own 
mind. None of the doubts as to what cause 
he should espouse, which had been hinted at by 
some of the personages of our narrative, really ex- 
isted in his mind. His course was plain, manly, 
upright, and straight forward. Nevertheless, as 
has been seen, he had not thus far entirely escaped 
suspicion. But trusting to the uprightness of his 
intentions, he took his measures on this eventful 
morning with a single eye to the public peace 
and the cause of truth, justice and humanity It. 

T 


78 CAVALIERS OF VIRGIN!^ 

was to promote these great ends, that he now 
sembled the members of the military company of 
which he was the commander. Upon what service 
they were to be engaged, will appear in the sue-- 
ceeding chapters. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


79 


CHAPTER VIL 


While Bacon and his partisans were deliberating 
in one of the upper rooms of the Berkley Arms, 
and Beverly, Ludwell and their friends, still kept 
up their potations in the Tap below, all of a 
sudden the bells ceased to chime, and the cannons 
to roar, and the various other demonstrations of 
noisy mirth that pervaded the city, were hushed 
into silence. A corresponding stillness instantly 
prevailed throughout both the assembled parties, 
for a moment, in order to ascertain if possible the 
cause of this interruption to the public rejoicings. 
No one in either being able to explain the 
matter, both parties at the same moment rushed 
tumultuously into the street. They beheld men, 
women, and children, thronging in the direction 
of the public square, and naturally fell into the 
current, and were borne on its tide into the very 
centre of attraction. Here they found several ox- 
carts standing in the street, in the beds of which 
were stretched the dead bodies of eight Indians — 
fearfully mangled, and one with his head entirely 
severed from the body. Twenty voices at once 
were interrogating the gaping negroes who bestrode 
the cattle, but no other satisfaction could be gained 
from them than a mute reference to their master ; 


80 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


a little busy important man, who resided on the 
main land, and was now holding forth with great 
energy and amplitude of expression, touching his 
various adventures of the morning, to a crowd of 
eager loungers gathered around him, as if to ap- 
propriate his wonderful disclosure entirely to 
themselves. 

He stated that he had found the dead bodies 
upon the banks of the river, where there were still 
many evidences of a desperate conflict of both 
horse and foot. That the ground was covered 
with blood, and that one party must have been 
driven into the river, and drowned, as he had been 
enabled to trace them by their footmarks to the 
very edge of the water. 

It will be readily imagined by the reader that 
Nathaniel Bacon was no unmoved spectator of 
this scene, or of the various conjectural expla- 
nations that were now given in his hearing,, of 
a transaction in which he had been such a prinelpal 
actor, and of which he Could have given such an 
authentic history. He was rather rejoiced than 
otherwise, that the little planter of the main seem- 
ed so much disposed to indulge his imagination, 
as a discovery of his own part in the matter, and 
of Virginia’s delicate position on the occasion, 
was thereby rendered less probable. But his self 
congratulations were too hasty; for scarcely had he 
revolved these things in his mind, before a sudden 
rush of the crowd towards some new object of 
surprise arrested his attention. This was.no othei^ 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


81 


than Brian O’Reily, bearing into the crowd upon 
his back the dead body of Jamie Jamieson, and 
followed by his wife, who to her bruises and mis- 
fortunes had applied the comfort of whiskey in 
great profusion. O’Reily^ it seemed, had foully 
sympathised with the widowed lady, for his mo- 
tions were any thing but accordant with the solem- 
nity of the occasion. Bacon could scarce suppress 
a smile as he caught a glimpse of this group through 
the crowd. His first object, however, was to 
catch O’Reily's eye, and make him understand, if 
possible by a look, that he was to volunteer no 
evidence in the case. He had no sooner succeed- 
ed in gaining the notice of his attendant, than the 
latter applied his finger slyly to his lip, looking 
another way at the same time, and thys indicating 
that he understood the policy to be pursued, and 
that he was not so much intoxicated as he thought 
proper to seem. With this doubtful assurance 
Bacon was compelled to rest satisfied, walking 
about the square all the while in visible agitation. 

The corpse of the fisherman being laid out in 
the market-place, the ofiicer, whose duty it was, 
proceeded to summon an inques| to inquire into 
the manner and cause of his death. The first 
witness summoned before this tribunal, was, of 
course, the wife of the deceased. She testified 
that a party of savages had on the preceding night 
entered their house, and after having cruelly mur- 
dered her husband, beaten herself, and bound her 
limbs with cords, bad carried away all their fishing; 


82 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


nets. That having placed these in a canoe, they laid 
her in it also, and paddled across the river — where 
they were met by another party of savages, about 
fifty in number, as she supposed, and while they 
were busily engaged in dividing the spoil, a gi- 
gantic man, with a face flaming like fire, and 
a sword as long as a fishing pole, had suddenly 
fallen upon the murderers, and quickly put them 
to flight, or the sword. That having thus con- 
quered the whole horde, he had placed her in the 
boat again, and brought her to her own house, 
where he left her, and where she remained alone 
until morning, when she was found by Mr. Brian 
O^Reily, who happened to be coming that way. 

Improbable as some parts of this story were, it 
met with a ready credence from nearly the whole 
of the multitude; no tale, having any relation to 
the Reclnse, being so marvellous that they would 
not readily believe it. But in no one of the as- 
sembled listeners did it excite greater surprise 
than in Bacon himself. It is true, that he readily 
recognised in the whole invention the joint influ- 
ence of whiskey, and O’Reily’s ingenuity, but 
even to these he had not supposed, that he should 
be indebted for sUch downright falsehoods in his 
behalf. Mrs. Jamieson, too, seemed firmly to be- 
lieve all that she had testified. Under these cir- 
cumstances die did not feel himself called upon to 
set the matter right at the expense of Virginia's 
feelings, and the inevitable defeat of the measures in 
which he was that very morning deeply engaged. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


83 


How the Irishman was to manage his part of the 
narrative when called upon, as he certainly would 
be, and that so speedily that no time would be al- 
lowed to exchange a word with his master. Bacon 
could not divine. He knew right well that 
O’Reily was gifted with a strong tendency to the 
most outrageous and even ridiculous exaggeration, 
and that he would carry through whatever he 
should undertake to say, with wonderful shrewd- 
ness and imperturbable confidence; but how he 
was to make his story agree with that which he 
had put into the mouth of Mrs. Jamieson, and 
at the same time explain the wound upon his 
own face, and the contusion upon his head, with- 
out being guilty of some direct and palpable false- 
hood, was more than his master could imagine. 
At length Brian O'Reily was called to state what 
he knew touching the death of the fisherman. 
The first question propounded by the officer was, 
‘‘Well, O’Reily, tell the jury how, and when 
you came to the house of the deceased.” 

“ Oh! thin, and Pm bothered to know whether 
I got there by land or wather, and faix, I’m after 
b’leiven it was naither uv them.” 

“ How then did you get there, if you went 
neither by land nor Water?"” 

“An by the vestments, may be I wouldn’t be 
far wrang, if I said it was the crathur that took 
me there, seein I can’t deny it iny way, your 
haner. ” 


84 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


You 5aw no one strike or maltreat the de- 
ceased.” 

“It would be but ill manners in me to be con- 
thradictin your haner.’^ 

“You are sure you did not strike him yourself.” 

“As sure as two tin-pinnies — Divil burn the 
man that Brian O’Reily ever ill used when he was 
down — much less when he was dead, your haner.’’ 
(crossing himself.) 

“ How then came that cut upon the corner of 
your mouth ?” 

“Oh! murther, and is it these your haner’s ax- 
ing after?” and he ingeniously placed his finger up- 
on a smaller wound made by his bottle on the 
previous night. “Yes, O’Reily, we wish you to 
state how you came by those wounds.” 

“ Oh! but I’m bowld to show your haner, seein 
its you that axed me — sure here’s the wapon that 
kilt me all out!” and as he spoke, he pulled out 
his broken necked bottle and handed it to his 
catechist. 

“I see it has blood upon it, O’Reily, and this 
may explain the cut on your mouth, but how came 
that contusion on your temple .^” 

“ Be dad but I run aginst a good big shelaleigh, 
an it broke me head so it did — sorra much head I 
had left at that same recknin, for the crather. ” 

“You ran against a club, O’Reily. ^ Was it 
growing in the ground or was it in the hands of an 
enemy ?” 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


85 


It might be’growin, your haner, or it might be 
in the hands of the great inimy himself, for al} 
that Brian O’Reily knows — sure your haner isn’t 
very particular in examinin the tixture of the tim- 
ber that knocks you down. It might be a door- 
post — or may be the gate of the foort — as the 
thimber grows as thick here as paraties, and this 
gate was always too small for me when I had a 
dhrap of the whiskey.” 

‘‘You ran against the gate-post, or the facings 
of Jamieson’s door, then?” 

“By the five crasses, an Pve done that same 
many’s the time — barrin always that it would be 
ill manners in me to conthradict your haner if I 
hadn’t.” 

“You saw nothing then of the treacherous and 
thieving savages on the night of Jamieson’s mur- 
der?” 

“ Oh then but I’m puzzled now intirely. By 
the holy father, I saw a power of sights on that 
same night. The whiskey was clane too strong 
for me. I saw all sorts of yeller nagres, and men 
widout shadows, and flamin counthenances, and the 
fire sparklin from the very eyes of me by the same 
token. Bivil a word of a lie’s in that iny way.” 

“But you saw no person strike or maltreat this 
man who lies dead here ?” 

“Divil the one, your haner! Brian O’Reily’s 
the boy that wouldn’t see foul-play to man nor 
baste. I never saw Jamie, till I saw him stretched 
all out as you see him there. ” 

VoL. I. 8 


S6 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


‘‘ You do not know then but that you may ha^ve" 
encountered the murderers in your own drunken- 
travels 

‘‘ Faix and you may say that, your haner, wid- 
out a word of a lie in it; it bothers me intirely 
to tell what I did see. An, by the five crasses, if 
it wasn’t for the wapon you’ve got in your hand 
— and poor Jamie that I brought here on my back 
— and this thump upon my head, I should say it 
was all a dhrame clane out’’ 

“Well, you may go, O’Reily. I believe you 
know little of what happened to yourself or any 
one else last night.” 

‘‘An that’s thrue for you iny way; many thanks 
to your haner for your kindness and civility,” said 
O’Reily, as he left the crowd, slily tipping a wink 
of triumph to his master. 

Bacon certainly began to breathe more freely 
towards the conclusion, as havin-g edged in with the 
crowd, he heard O’Reily’s ingenious parries of the 
official’s thrusts. But his trials were not yet over, 
for scarcely had he followed his attendant with his 
eye out of the crowd, before Mr. Fairfax stepped 
up to the officer and whispered something in his ear. 
In a few moments after a deputy was seen leading 
Wyanokee into the market-place — a look of the most 
profound dejection, still visible through her fright, 
at being brought into the presence of such a mul- 
titude. 

She testified, that two of the Indians slain were 
her nearest kinsmen. That the one with his 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


87 


head severed from the body, was old King Fisher; 
and, upon examination, the blue feathers of his pa- 
tronymic bird were found still sticking in the mat- 
ted tuft of hair upon his crown. She farther stated 
that he was her father’s only brother, and that 
another of the slain was his son — the only two re- 
maining male relatives she had in the world. 
That all these savages were of the Chickahominy 
tribe ; and that there were not more than two 
hundred warriors left of all that brave and pow- 
erful nation which had once thronged the banks 
of the Chickahominy river. And here the little 
Indian maiden seemed almost suffocated with over- 
powering emotions, as the memory of former days 
came gushing over her heart. No tear relieved 
her swelling emotions, but ever and anon she cast 
her eyes over the mangled bodies of her kinsmen, 
and once or twice turned with looks more rapid 
and of darker meaning towards Bacon. The ge- 
neral expression of her countenance, however, was 
one of profound and overwhelming sadness. Her 
soul seemed fully capable of realizing the melan- 
choly destiny which awaited all the nations of the 
aborigines then inhabiting the country, from the sea 
board to the blue mountains,* and whose fiat was 
fast bearing her race from the loved places which 
had known them so long. It was doubtless in her 
mind a poor compensation for the destruction of 
her native tribe and their contemporaries, that she 

* The Indians possessed no knowledge of any of the tribes bje- 
yond- 


88 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


herself had been reclaimed from the happy igno- 
rance of savage, to the more painful knowledge of 
civilized life. 

She was asked if she knew of the visit of these 
unfortunate men on the preceding night. Her 
eye furtively ran over the eager faces gathered 
around, until it fell upon that of Bacon, when a 
momentary flash of some internal impulse illumin- 
ed her countenance. It might be vengeance, or 
the hatred of unrequited passion — but let the cause 
be what it might, it glimmered with a demoniacal 
fire but for an instant, and then, like the expiring 
taper in the socket after its last flash, sunk for ever. 
The sadness of past and coming years seemed 
concentrated in the despair of one moment. She 
waived her hand and shook her head in silence, 
thus indicating that she could say no more — that 
human endurance had been stretched to ita utmost 
verge. Walking deliberately out of the crowd 
until she came to the trunkless head of the last of 
the Chickahominy chiefs, she bent over the muti- 
lated remains for a moment in unutterable sorrow, 
and then throwing her eyes to heaven, dark in des- 
pair, she stooped to pluck one of the blue feathers 
from the scalp, and then with sad and lingering 
steps, proceeded to her home. 

All were impressed with involuntary respect for 
the bereaved maiden, and even the hardened offi- 
cer suffered her to depart without having finished 
his examination. Sufficient, however, had beea 
gleaned for the jury to bring in a verdiet of mur- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


89 


^er by the hands of somo of the Chickahominy 
tribe of savages. This tribe of Indians inhabited 
a small town called Orapacks, on the banks of the 
river which gave its name to the nation. They 
formed a part of the grand confederation which had 
first been united under Powhatan, and afterwards his 
successor, Opechancanough ; the latter of whom so 
unfortunately fell, while a prisoner at Jamestown, 
by the hands of a dastardly soldier, who took his life 
in revenge for some petty wrong, real or imaginary. 
The depredation related in -the foregoing pages, 
and the unfortunate result to so many of its perpe- 
trators, was the first interruption to the general 
peace which Sir William Berkley had been enabled 
to secure for the colony, after various sanguinary 
massacres and conflicts, with the numerous tribes 
composing the empire of Virginia, as it was some- 
times called, and reaching from the Peninsula to 
the present seat of Richmond. 

It may be well, perhaps, to state that a process 
had been despatched, for form’s sake, to summon 
the Recluse, but it was returned as similar mes- 
sages had always been before — he was non est 
inventus. 

The dead bodies w^ere now removed, — that of 
Jamieson to the more consecrated ground around 
the church, and those of the Indians to a sort of 
Potter’s-field or general burying ground, such as 
every city has possessed from the time of Judas 
Iscariot to the present day. 

The necessary and justifiable sacrifice of some half 
8 * 


90 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


a dozen savages was, at that time, too common a 
circumstance in Jamestown, long to aflfect the gaye- 
ties of the day. Accordingly the afternoon found 
the daughters and wives of the hardy citizens 
gayly tripping it over the green common, to which 
we have already introduced the reader, inspired by 
the music of two sable musicians, who rattled and 
scraped defiance to all untoward interruptions 
whatsoever. The town was full of strangers from 
the neighbouring plantations, together with many 
members of the House of Burgesses from surround- 
ing counties, who had arrived in preparation for 
the meeting of that body, summoned to be held on 
the third succeeding day. Many of these dignified 
personages had collected on the green, to witness 
the enjoyment of the humbler citizens and their 
wives and daughters. 

A merry set of joyful lads and lasses were whirl- 
ing through the giddy dance ; when all at once a 
savage yell abruptly struck upon the ear, the music 
ceased, the youths stood still in the circle, while 
some of the maidens fled toward the public square, 
and others sought the protection of their fathers, 
husbands, or lovers. Consternation was visible in 
the boldest countenances. The transactions of the 
morning had unstrung the nerves of the females, 
and urged the sterner sex to thoughts of war, which 
had lain dormant since the general peace and 
the death of Opechancanough. But soon a jingle 
of little bells was heard, and the next moment the 
multitude burst into a loud laugh, and simultane- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


91 


ously cast their eyes up to a tall tree which over- 
hung the green, and upon which was seen a paint- 
ed savage, descending with great agility ; he soon 
leaped into the middle of the area, where the dance 
had been in progress, and commenced shuffling 
away at a most indefatigable rate, the fiddlers strik- 
ing at the same moment into the humour of this 
strange visiter, and he himself dexterously rattling 
a number of little bones which he held between his 
fingers — the bells all the while continuing to jingle, 
and producing the strangest effect upon the ear. 
His face was painted in the ordinary warrior guise, 
his head shaved close to the cranium, save a lock 
upon the crown, to which hung a tuft of scarlet 
feathers — his person was grotesquely ornamented 
with beads, bells and buttons in great profusion, 
interspersed with hundreds of red feathers, from 
which he took his name. He was called Red 
Feather Jack, and was remarkably fond of the 
music and all the ordinary diversions of the whites. 
In this respect he was the most remarkable Indian 
of his day — that race having been peculiar for the 
haughty and dignified contempt with which they 
looked upon the amusements of their civilized 
neighbours. He was known to be as desperate in 
battle as he was light hearted and merry at the 
sports of the white man, and had never been 
known guilty of any kind of treachery, and was a 
universal favourite at Jamestown among all the 
young people of both sexes. It may be readily 
imagined, therefore, that a shout of Red Feather 


92 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Jack,” which was instantly raised by the assembled 
throng, brought no slight accession to their num- 
bers. The amusement thus afforded was kept up, 
intermingled with dances of Aheir own, to which 
Jack beat time with his loudest bells, until the hour 
had arrived for the commencement of the more im- 
posing and aristocratic ceremonies and amusements 
at the gubernatorial mansion. 

Red Feather Jack was believed by many to be 
an admirer of Wyanokee’s, though of a different 
tribe. He had once, on an occasion nearly similar 
to the one just related, offered to lead her to the 
dance, but the more refined maiden looked upon 
him with ineffable scorn and contempt, produced as 
much, doubtless, by his undignified and unnational 
habits, as by what she considered his inferior rank 
and understanding. After the cessation of the 
various sports upon the green — in the warehouse, 
and throughout the town,’ Jack was taken to the 
Berkley Arms, where his merry perfomances were 
kept up until a late hour of the night, to the great 
amusement of the loungers and the disappointed 
youths who had vainly aspired to a participation 
in the celebration of the Cavaliers. 

There was one peculiar circumstance attending 
this day’s celebration which became generally the 
subject of after remark. Not a sign of festivity or 
rejoicing was visible at the Cross Keys. Its mas- 
ter sat a solitary spectator in his own door, appa- 
rently regarding the passing levities with sovereign 
eontempt. This of course did not escape without 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


93 


many comments from the more jovial landlord of 
the Arms.” It was likewise remarkable that 
none of the Independents were visible on this 
general holyday, and this was the more singular as 
many of the humbler followers of the late Lord 
Protector had been sold into temporary bondage, 
and of course might be supposed eager to enjoy 
one day’s cessation from labour, even if they did 
not care to join the humbler citizens in their de^ 
monstrations of loyalty. 


94 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


CHAPTER VIIL 

As the sun went down upon the boisterous re- 
vellers in the ancient city, and closed the festivi- 
ties of the day among the plebeians, the aristocracy 
of the vice-regal court began to roll along the 
streets in their carriages, and surround the door 
of the stout old knight who represented the person 
of his royal master in the colony. The members 
of the Council and of the house of Burgesses, with 
their wives and daughters, and all other citizens 
and sojourners of distinction were among the num- 
ber. Now came the crash of carriages — swearing 
of footmen — cracking of whips, rattling of wheels 
— clattering of steps, and the pompous announce- 
ment of the man in office, as each party was mar- 
shalled into the long suite of apartments brilliantly 
lighted for the occasion. At the head of the larg- 
est room stood Sir William and Lady Berkley. 
The old knight was dressed in a blue velvet dou- 
blet, which being slashed below the belt or waist- 
band, protruded out all round so as to show 
the yellow silk linings of the aforesaid garment, 
fringing and ornamenting the waist. His breeches 
were of pink satin, and were cut in what was called 
At that day* ‘‘ the petticoats they were tied to 


See Holmes. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 95 

ihe large mouthed silk hose with gay ribands, and 
the lining of the breeches being longer than the 
garment itself, formed a sort of ornament for the 
overhanging hose ; immediately over this row of 
knotted ribands ornamenting the knee, his breeches 
hung in ample folds. The sleeves of his doublet 
reached nearly to the elbow, and from the end of 
these the shirt was so fashioned as to bulge out in 
large flowing plaits to his ruffled wrists. His stock- 
ings were of white silk, and shoes ornamented with 
a profusion of ribands, knotted, and bound into the 
shape of flowers. On one shoulder hung a short 
mantle, reaching to the haunches and falling in 
rich folds over one side of his person. Lady Berk- 
ley appeared for the first time without her farthin- 
gale,but still retained its cotemporary, the French 
hood. In place of the starched ruflf, she wore the 
graceful and flowing collar, falling in folds and ter- 
minated in rich pointed lace round the upper half 
of the bust ; she wore a stomacher indeed, but 
greatly modified from the long strait jacket 
fashion of the preceding reign. 

A slight degree of pomp and formality character- 
ized the profound inclination of the knight’s magis- 
terial person, as some guest of distinction was from 
time to time announced, while his lady performed 
her part of the ceremony in exact accordance with 
the stately habits of her lord, but softened by a 
native blandness of manner and sweetness of dis- 
position. She was a lady in the most refined and 
polished acceptation of the term. They were both 


96 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


just sufficiently advanced in years to add i\xe dig- 
nity of age to that resulting from their station, and 
command respect from those who moved within 
their sphere. The ladies began, now to re-appear, 
after the momentary retouch of the toilet, and ar- 
range themselves round the apartment apparently 
appropriated to the dance, from a band of musi- 
cians stationed some six feet above the floor in a 
temporary orchestra. The first touch upon the 
string of the leader’s kit was magical — the .chords 
of every young female heart in the room vibrated 
in unison. No letting down of one string and rais- 
ing of another was required to bring them to con- 
cert pitch ; like the blooded charger in the field, 
in whose veins the first clang of the trumpet sends 
the vital stream glistening to the very eye-balls, 
their gayly decorated persons were at once glow- 
ing with animation ; their eyes sparkling and their 
bosoms heaving with impatience, Ijoy, and antici- 
pated triumph. But when the bow of an evident 
master was drawn over the strings of his rusty 
cremona in a long signal sweep, every heart pal- 
pitated in eagerness. The eyes of the gentlemen 
wandered over the multitude of youthful and love- 
ly faces beaming with a delighted expression, and 
all were keenly alive to the coming pleasures of 
the dance. But there was a precedence in the ar- 
rangement of the first set which we must by no 
means neglect. Virginia Fairfax, by right of birth 
and consanguinity to the governor, invariably as- 
sumed her aunt’s place at the head of the set. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


97 


The blooming Hebe issued forth from the im^ 
penetrable ranks of her compeers with the blush- 
ing grace and beauty of a nymph — her hand was 
slightly extended as though its owner were con- 
scious that scores of the opposite ranks would have 
perilled life and fortune for its possession. She 
was clad in simple white; not a colour marring 
the chaste and perfect purity of her attire, save the 
transparent shadow of a crimson tint which rose 
and fell in vivid flashes over her complexion with 
the 'rapidity of thought. Kear her stood a youth, 
his finely formed person ^set off to the best advan- 
tage by the gay and tasteful fashion of his time, 
and his dark hazel eye, brilliant with the momen- 
tary fire of excitement. Instinctively he moved 
forward to receive the outstretched and now trem- 
bling little hand, but scarcely had he gained it be- 
fore a competitor appeared upon the field, of not 
less personal and far more aristocratic pretension. 
‘^With your leave, sir,” said Frank Beverly, with 
a profound inclination of his finely dressed person, 
as he took the hand which Bacon, in the abstraction 
of the moment, was about to usurp. The latter re- 
tired in the most undisguised mortification; his rival 
moving to the head of the set with all the grace and 
ease of self-possession, rank, and consciousness of 
right in the present instan c. 

Sir William himself bent his dignity to enjoy 
this scene, the most evident satisfaction beaming 
upon his countenance as he cast an intelligent glance 
toward his lady. 

VoL. I. 


9 


98 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Our heroine had been too finely schooled in the 
etiquette and manners of the ball-room, to allow 
the most penetrating observer any means of ascer- 
taining whether the incident just related was as 
pleasing to her as to her partner. Bacon’s mortifi- 
cation was not long visible, for with a desperate 
sort of boldness, quite foreign to his general de- 
meanour, he crossed the room and approached a 
young lady whose beauty shone conspicuous amid 
all the gay throng by which she was surrounded. 
Harriet Harrison was the daughter of one of the 
proudest and most wealthy families in the colony. 
They moved in the front ranks of those who radi- 
ated around the fashionable orbit of which the 
Governor and his family were the principal lumina- 
ries, and were esteemed by them as among their 
most honoured friends and supporters. Harriet 
was the intimate friend of Virginia Fairfax, and, 
after her mother, the most esteemed repository of 
her confidence. Though an idea of rivalry in any 
shape or form had never entered their young and 
guileless hearts, the youthful Cavaliers who floated 
upon the same fashionable tide, had frequently 
placed them in this attitude in their private dis- 
cussions of the various personal and mental attrac- 
tions of the maidens, each in her turn proving the 
reigning favourite, as their respective admirers 
happened to possess the supremacy over the minds 
of their companions. She was near the same age 
with Virginia, and undoubtedly possessed attrac- 
tions of the most captivating quality, both in mind 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


99 


?in(l person, yet they were finely contrasted with 
those of her friend. Harriet’s complexion was 
brunette — her hair dark and shining as the raven’s 
plumage — her eye black, keen and sparkling, her 
finely pencilled brows beautifully overshadowing 
the native archness of her countenance, and her 
mouth always expressive of amiable feelings, just 
sufficiently characterized perhaps by a dash of in- 
nocent humour and coquetry; or rather that co- 
quetry which is th& result of archness and humour 
as distinguished from premeditated design. Her 
figure was slight but finely proportioned. As 
Bacon approached this laughing little belle, his 
boldness visibly diminished beneath her spark- 
ling eye, and his petition for her hand was uttered 
with the most courtly and deferential humility. 
The brunette cast a significant glance toward her 
friend at the head of the set, and then with prompt- 
itude accepted the offered partner, her intelligent 
and sparkling countenance turning towards Charles 
Dudley, who stood near, with a speaking archness, 
which conveyed as plainly as it could have been 
in words, her perfect understanding of the by- 
play which w^as going on at the expense of his 
friend. The set being completed, the music now 
struck up its enlivening notes, and the various con- 
tending passions and emotions of those engaged 
were soon lost for the time in the giddy whirl of 
excitement which succeeded. Every countenance 
was clad in joy and hilarity — Bacon himself seem- 


loo 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


ing to forget, in the secret pleasure created by the 
occasional touch of Virginia’s hand, that he him- 
self was not the honoured partner. Nor was the 
exhilirating effect of the dance confined to those 
who partook in the exercise — the young enjoyed 
it present, the old by retrospection. The latter 
lived over again the gay and brilliant dreams of 
their own youth, and were what they beheld. 
The music perhaps touched upon some long for- 
gotten associations of other days and other friends, 
when and with whom they had mingled in the 
merry dance under circumstances like the present. 
These hallowed and blessed associations were not 
unmixed with melancholy, but it was of the softest 
and most soothing kind; the tide of feeling flowed 
over the heart to the cadences of the music, rising 
and swelling like the waves of the subsiding storm, 
and irresistibly inviting to mental calm and re- 
pose. The elder matrons sat under its influence — 
their eyes half closed in a sort of pleasing abstrac- 
tion — while a gentle and subdued smile of mixed 
emotions played upon their lips. They lived 
again in the persons of their gay and happy daugh- 
ters, and with no more selfish wish than to see 
their offspring following quietly in their own foot- 
steps. 

The formality which had somewhat characteriz- 
ed the opening ceremonies was entirely banished 
— it could not live in the atmosphere of music and 
the dance. Sir William and his compeers in 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 101 

dignity seemed early to be sensible of this, for 
no sooner had the motion of ‘‘hands round” com- 
menced, than he collected his forces, and retreated 
to the card room, where, from the excitement of 
the game and wine, they endeavoured to compen- 
sate themselves for their want of the more senti- 
mental retrospects of their ladies. 

Conversation, which till now had flagged under 
the withering influence of etiquette, burst forth in 
all the vivacity of unrestrained and unsophisticated, 
nature. The eyes of Harriet Harrison sparkled 
like gems, as she and Virginia laughed and chatted 
together, when they occasionally met in the figures 
of the dance. But with all Virginia’s hilarity^ 
an acute observer might have perceived a shade 
more than once passing over the sunshine of her 
countenance; whether owing to some vague pre- 
sentiment of coming evil — to better defined appre- 
hensions from those events which had so lately 
passed under her eyes— to ti e mysterious injunc- 
tions of the Recluse, or to some not altogether 
satisfactory arrangements of the dance, we shall 
leave the sagacity of the reader to determine. 
Certain it is, however, that she underwent no, 
little badinage from her lively friend and con- 
fidant. 

A certain emphatic declination in the notes of 
the leader, which all the initiated will understand,, 
warned those in possession of the floor, that there 
is an order of rotation in happiness on these joy-. 

9* 


103 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


ful occasions, a cadence, any thing but musical to 
those happily and mutually suited in partners, 
while to those not so fortunately coupled, it was a 
joyful relief. Each gentleman led his partner to 
her seat, which she had scarcely taken, perhaps, 
if one of the favoured few, before new applications 
for the honour of her hand were laid at her feet. 
Bacon had no sooner escorted Harriet to her place, 
than turning to her friend he again put in his 
claim in more formal parlance than his former 
instinctive aspirations, but again he was doomed 
to disappointment; Philip Ludwell on this occa- 
sion, with a smirking smile upon his countenance, 
claiming a prior engagement. Bacon scowled upon 
him with mingled scorn and rage, as he turned 
upon his heel and besought the honour of the first 
hand within his reach. But if he was disappointed, 
his friend Dudley seemed more fortunate, for at 
the same moment that the former led out his 
partner, he encountered the latter escorting the 
pretty Harriet — and certainly no one in the room 
claimed a larger portion of his sympathy. But 
he was struck with the change in the counte- 
nance of the lively brunette in the very short time 
which had elapsed between the two sets. During 
the first, there was a free, untramelled, mischievous 
expression in her countenance, which was now 
merged in one of partial embarrassment. The 
guileless and confiding air with which she had 
looked into the face of her former partner,, was. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


lOS 


now exchanged for one of consciousness, as if the 
lively little belle expected retributive justice from 
her friends for her own previous badinage. The 
unpractised Dudley interpreted these appearances 
any thing but favourably to his own ardent hopes. 

Bacon was more deeply studied in the workings 
of the “human face divine,” especially when feel- 
ing no personal interest in their meaning, and he 
therefore amused himself in his ungrateful situa- 
tion, by watching the changes of his friend’s arch 
little mistress. He doubtless considered it a 
beautiful and interesting development of character, 
to see this lively little romp — so lately overflowing 
with vivacity and animal spirits — all at once trans- 
formed into the sensitive, sedate, and downcast 
maiden. He was certainly not less amused ta 
perceive that these two interesting young person- 
ages were unconsciously playing at cross purposes. 
First the gentleman became cold and moody at 
the reserve exhibited by his mistress, which did 
undoubtedly exist, but from which his jealous 
anxiety made him draw a most erroneous conclu- 
sion; while she, on the other hand, resented this 
apparently ungrateful return for a partiality which 
her own consciousness induced her to believe was 
perceptible to its object; indeed this very fear of 
his knowledge was perhaps the moving impulse 
of her own wayward conduct. The resentment 
occasioned by his apparent coldness, and assumed 
indifference, produced a corresponding feeling in 
her bosom, and thus they mutually acted and re- 


104 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


acted upon each other, departing farther and far- 
ther from a mutual understanding at every renewed 
attempt, until at the close of the set, Dudley re- 
tired, as he imagined, irreconcilably offended, fold- 
ing his arms upon his breast^ and looking the very 
picture of love in despair. While in this rnood 
Bacon approached him, and tapped him on the 
shoulder, saying, “ Hah, Charles, would’st drown 
thyself? Thou dost not set thy life at a pin’s fee 
I’ll warrant me. Why, what would’st thou have, 
man ? Thou would’st not have her forward and 
pert enough to run unbidden into thy arms ?” 

‘‘ Run into my arms, forsooth! I think she was 
nearer running into thine own.” 

Tut man, does thy knowledge of the sex ex- 
tend no farther ? Dost not know thou art quarrel- 
ling with the light of thine own eyes? Art thou 
not yet acquainted with the windings and apparent 
inconsistencies of the female heart ? I say appa- 
rent, because when the primum mobile is once 
understood, all these little perversities of lovers’ 
quarrels are beautifully consistent, and always 
traceable to the one great original cause. Once 
gain an insight.of this leading motive, and you will 
admire where you now condemn — you will attri- 
bute to maidenly modesty and proper reserve, 
what you now censure as perverse and whimsical.” 

“I understand you not. Sir Professor.” 

‘‘ No, because you are interested in the matter. 
You cannot truly place the small end of the tele- 
jicope to your eye, and see yourself at the other^ 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


105 


You cannot stand, for instance, as I stand, and see 
yourself as I see you. But study the subject>a 
little before you give way to the identical petulant 
humours with which you would quarrel in your 
mistress.^^ 

And how long is it, pray, Sir Sage, since you 
took the beam from your own eye. If mine de- 
ceived me not, I saw you but a little while since 
swelling with all the offended dignity of majesty 
itself — merely because some more fortunate swain 
had previously secured the -hand of the Governor's 
fair niece.” 

You are as far wrong in my affairs, Charles, 
as you were just now in your own. You seem pe- 
culiarly predisposed to-night, to see only the sur- 
face of things. Suppose that some half a dozen 
of those butterflies who are now congregating 
round Lady Berkley, were to form a plot by 
which you were to be deprived of the hand of that 
lady whom you most desired to lead to the dance? 
Nay, more, suppose that you considered it all im- 
portant to your interests that you should possess 
the hand on this particular night, and that you 
should be thwarted by such a contrivance of sub 
vice-royalty! What would you do ? Would you 
content yourself with spending your rage upon 
your own lips between your teeth ?” 

‘^No, by heavens, I would tweak the nose of a 
small sprig of royalty itself.’^ 

‘‘What, under the circumstances and responsi- 
bilities that environ us to-night 


106 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


^^No! not to-night certainly; there is no hurry 
ill the l;)usiness — his nasal organ will be as tangi- 
ble a week hence as now, I suppose; but who is 
it that has done this deed ? I see you have many 
rivals.” ^ 

Frank Beverly, to be sure.” 

I supposed as much.^’ 

‘^You see,’^ continued Bacon, ‘‘that I have 
now removed the mote from my own eye, and 
that you did in my case exactly what you did in 
your own — you looked only at the surface. But 
really, Charles, between ourselves, I begin to en- 
tertain some fears that they will at last affect Vir- 
ginia with their own aristocratic notions and pre- 
tensions, for the absence of which we have so 
often praised her. I have seen a strange unusual 
something stealing over her countenance whenever 
I have approached her of late, which I do not like. 
She evidently struggles with it herself, but it has 
obtained the mastery in every instance, so far. 
Think you they will succeed at last ?” 

“I know not, my friend! but step with me 
into the entry — a word in your ear.’^ The parties 
stepped just behind the casings to the door of the 
room in which they had been dancing, so as to 
occupy a small entry-war between the two larg- 
est apartments of the mansion, and there Dudley 
continued in an under tone. — 

“Do you think they will dare the deed io- 
night ?” 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


107 


As sure as there is truth in that strange old 
man — and he has never yet deceived me!” 

“ Tis well! and are all things prepared for their 
reception 

“They are! As for myself, never did such oc- 
casion come more opportunely. I will raise a 
bloody monument to perpetuate the events of this- 
night upon more than one memory in yonder gay 
assembly ! And since the thought strikes me, 
Dudley, tis pity I disturbed the savage moroseness 
v/hich was just stealing over you; however I shall 
retain a quantum sufficU for us both!” 

At that moment they were about to return to 
the party which they had left, when Dudley ele- 
vating his finger, said, Hist!” — and Bacon heard 
his own name pronounced, just on the other side -of 
the partition against which they were leaning. 
The voice wasLudwell’s. “ Can you tell me Be- 
verly,^’ said he, the reason why Bacon does not 
wear the love lock!” 

^‘Yes, I can, nature stamped him for a Round- 
head and Crop-ear at his birth. Have you not 
observed how obstinately his curling loqks are 
matted to his head ? I’ll warrant me if the truth 
could be known, his father was as pestilent a 
Ru'mper as ever sung a psalm on horseback.” 

Bacon heard no more; he was seized with the 
most ungovernable rage, and the utmost endea- 
vours and remonstrances of his friend could scarce- 
ly prevent him from bursting in upon the speak- 
ers. In his endeavours to effect this object he 


108 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


forced his person partly in front of the doorway, 
just sufficiently to perceive that Virginia sat near, 
for whom, he doubted not these observations were 
intended. Again he became nearly unmanage- 
able, until Dudley said to him in a harsh tone. 
‘‘Rash man, would you sacrifice the whole colony 
for the purpose of chastising a piece of unmannerly 
insolence upon the spur of the moment, when you 
can as well do it to-morrow? Nay, it is the more 
manly course of the two,” 

Bacon by a powerful effort seemed to master his 
feelings, and compressing his lips, and folding his 
arms so as entirely to deceive his companion, he 
marched deliberately into the room, as if he intend- 
ed to cross to the opposite side. But when not 
more than three paces from the door, he wheeled 
suddenly round and addressed Beverly. “ This 
is no place for a personal rencounter. Sir Slanderer, 
and I will no farther break through the rules of 
good breeding than to hurl defiance in your teeth, 
and even this much I would not do, only that the 
defiance may go abroad with the calumny;” and 
with these words he flung his glove in the face of 
him to whom they were addressed. Beverly was 
taken entirely by surprise ; and for some moments 
did not seem to realize the 'extent of the insult, 
and the greater personal indignity which had been 
offered to him. He was not long, however, in 
comprehending the nature of the case, and delibe- 
rately stooping to pick up the glove he answered, 

“ This, as you have better said than acted, is no 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


109 


p5ace to quarrel, but I accept your gage, and dearly 
^hall it be redeemed on your part.^^ 

During this short but pertinent dialogue, Virgi- 
nia screamed and ran to the protection of her fa- 
ther and uncle, followed by the other ladies in that 
part of the room. A crowd instantly collected 
round each of the parties to hear their statements 
of the ease. But Sir William j always prompt and 
energetic, ordered the orchestra to strike up and 
the dance to be resumed, which had ceased for 
the purpose of affording refreshment. ‘‘ A mere 
boy’s quarrel,” said the old Knight with smiling 
visage, and the dance was resumed, as if nothing 
unusual had occurred. 

General joy and hilarity were soon restored, for 
though the serenity and happiness of several im- 
portant personages of our narrative might have been 
disturbed, there were still plenty of those left who 
were both light of heart and nimble of foot. The 
dance was again going round, wine circulating, wit 
sparkling, and merry faces and loud voices in all 
quarters, when a sudden explosion like the discharge 
of a broadside from a line of battle ship, seemed to 
shake the very foundations of the earth ; windows 
rattled and fell — plastering came tumbling down — 
and ladies screamed and leaped from the casements, 
while others were borne off fainting to their friends. 
Bacon seized Virginia and Harriet, one under each 
arm, and bore them to a carriage, while Mr. 
Fairfax and .Governor Berkley forced their ladies 
into the same vehicle, ordering the driver to speed 

VoL. I. 10 


110 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


for his life to the residence of the former. A 
bright red light in the midst of a dark column of 
smoke was now seen to ascend from behind the 
Governor’s house. The powder magazine had 
been fired by the Cromwellians who were now in 
open revolt against the government. The schemes 
which they had been so long meditating, and which 
Bacon so truly anticipated , had now arrived at the 
crisis — the struggle was commenced which was to 
test whether a few scores of misguided but brave 
zealots were to triumph over the constituted au- 
thorities of the land, as they had before done in 
England. 



CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Ill 


CHAPTER IX. 

The night was dark and lowering, and masses 
of heavy clouds enveloped the city, a bright red 
column of fire ever and anon shot fitfully up from 
the smouldering ruins of the magazine, (ipping the 
clouds with a crimson tinge, and illuminating the 
city to the light of noonday, and again suddenly 
giving place to volumes of thick sulphureous smoke 
which involved the surrounding objects in tenfold 
darkness. Drums were heard beating to arms — 
trumpets sounding the charge — fifes piercing the 
air — bells ringing the alarm — muskets and petro- 
nels discharged in quick succession, swords clash- 
ing, women shrieking, and men were seen running 
hither and thither in all the tumult of popular com- 
motion. Bacon had no sooner lifted his frighten- 
ed protegees into the carriage, than rushing into 
the back court,! he found Dudley at the head of their 
youthful corps already desperately engaged with 
the Roundheads. He immediately threw him- 
self into the thickest of the fight. With all their 
desperate valour, however, the two young officers 
were quickly sensible that they had entirely mis- 
calculated the number and appointments of their 
enemies. In vain they endeavoured to repulse the 
hardy veterans who forced their way to the doors 


112 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


and v/indows of the gubernatorial mansion. The 
assailants moved to their work in a solid phalanx^ 
that veteran soldier Worley, conspicuous at their 
head, and literally hewing down all opposition. 
One line after another of the valiant and high born 
youths fell before the murderous weapons of ther 
insurgents. In vain did Bacon and Budley, and 
Beverly and Ludwell,.all now united in a common 
cause, enact prodigies of valour ; their impetuous 
lunges fell powerless upon the iron frames of their 
opponents. Crowds of citizens nov/ rushed against 
the insurgents some armed with swords, others 
with scythe blades, others again with bludgeons, 
and the rest with such means of destruction as they 
could seize in the street as they hurried to the con- 
test. The accession of strength to the cause of the 
government was as yet of little avail, Bacon and 
his followers being driven to the walls, while the 
insurgents were protected on each side by a high 
wooden fence or barricade. Tables, chairs and 
bedsteads were hurled upw^n the heads of the besieg- 
ers, and the lower windows were thronged with ea- 
ger citizens, throwing their hastily seized weapons 
upon the heads of the foe in a vain effort to come 
within reach. The Cromwellians were now like- 
wise receiving momentary reinforcements of those 
who leapt the high fences, and filled up the vacan- 
cies in the rear, as the front ranks fell in the despe- 
rate rencounter with the youths and citizens. To 
whom the victory would fall could not long prove 
doubtful, situated as they now were; this Sir William 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 113 

Berkley and his kinsman Fairfax had no doubt 
perceived early in the engagement, for a shout 
from a multitude without the enclosure, in the 
midst of which might be heard the voice of Brian 
O’Reily, now announced the presence of the Gover- 
nor. The welcome sound was speedily and cheeri- 
ly answered by the sinking youths within, who 
took courage at the approach of succour, and fought 
with renewed spirit. The wooden barricade was 
now seen to heave and shake, with every motion 
and creak of which O’Reily shouted in chorus, un- 
til at length the whole yielded and fell with aloud 
crash. A rush of citizens quickly filled up the 
breach, and poured their blows into the flank of the 
Roundheads, who now changing their front charged 
upon their new assailants, at the head of whom 
were the Governor and Gideon Fairfax. The two 
old Cavaliers laid about them in a style worthy of 
their best and most chivalrous days, and the ci- 
tizens as stoutly supported them although but 
poorly armed and equipped for such a rencoun- 
ter. By this change of front the gallant little 
corps which had so long maintained its ground, 
was now in some measure relieved, and no lon- 
ger subject to the murderous strokes of the iron- 
handed Cromwellians. By the order of Bacon 
they now poured their fire into the flank of the 
enemy, and by this double annoyance to their pha- 
lanx, would doubtless have speedily terminated the 
conflict, but the friends of the Insurgents without, 
taking example by the manoeuvre of the governor 
10 * 


114 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA, 


and his party, now broke down the barricade ote 
the other side, and rushed in their turn to the scene 
of conflict. As this new reinforcement were push^ 
ing through the court to jointheir friends, in storm- 
ing the first breach, a loud explosion from Sir Wil- 
liam’s quarter was heard, followed by the groans 
and shrieks of awhole phalanx of the old and new as- 
sailants, in whose ranks a i^erfect lane was cut by this 
discharge of grape shot through the very centre of 
their column. A rush was now instantly made for 
the possession of the cannon, and as the citizens 
poured through the governor’s house and the Round- 
heads through the new breach in the party -wall, a 
deadly scuffle ensued, which became more and more 
ferocious and sanguinary as each party received 
fresh accessions from their friends without. And 
though the Cavaliers and their supporters outnum- 
bered their enemies, the latter had decidedly the ad- 
vantage in equipment, strength and discipline ; 
more especially in the hand-to-hand mode of war- 
fare which now became necessary from the numbers 
crowded into so small a space. But there was 
another advantage which they possessed — they had 
but one commander, the veteran Worley, while 
the Cavaliers and citizens of the town were at one 
time commanded by Bacon, and at another by Sir 
William Berkley. 

Bacon perceiving the efiect of this circumstance, 
singled out and attacked the opposite leader in 
person, determined, if he lost his life in the un- 
equal conflict, to make the attempt at least to place 
the two parties on a more equal footing. But 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


115 


Worley quickly detected his aim, and being a not 
less expert swordsman than his antagonist, took 
advantage of an impetuous thrust, and quickly 
brought him to the grapple of close quarters. One 
excelled in strength, and the other in activity, 
but nothwithstanding the latter, superior powers 
of endurance would soon have ended the duel un- 
favourably for our hero, had not a blow from be- 
hind brought his powerful enemy to the ground. 
Before Bacon discovered O’Reily, he was well 
convinced that the bludgeon which had interfered 
so opportunely in his behalf, was wielded by no 
tyro at the > weapon. However, he lost but few 
seconds, either upon his assailant or deliverer, but 
quickly directed his attention to matters of more 
absorbing importance in the direction of cannon. 
Meantime O’Reily seized the opportunity afforded 
by the engrossing nature of the conflict, in the 
quarter just mentioned, and stooping down he took 
one of Worley’s feet und^reach ^rm, using his legs 
as shafts, and dragged him ofi* to a horse stall hard 
by, where having deposited the insensible veteran 
upon the straw, he turned the key and consigned 
it to his pouch. 

The battle now consisted almost entirely of nu- 
merous desperate individual conflicts, each citizen 
as he arrived singling out some hated Roundhead 
neighbour, and he in his turn as anxious to vent 
the party and personal hatred which had been so 
long festering within his bosom. Sir William 
Berkley perceiving that their veteran foes had a 


116 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


decided advantage in the position now occupied 
by the parties respectively, quickly devised a 
scheme, in concert with Mr. Fairfax, by which, 
while the Governor kept the enemy engaged over 
the cannon, the latter should take a score of sturdy 
citizens, and rushing in, regardless of consequences, 
drag this sole apparent cause of contention into 
the public square, and thus change the scene of 
action to a more open position, where the superior 
bodily strength of the insurgents could no longer 
avail them. The measure was executed with great 
spirit and promptitude, and succeeded beyond 
their most sanguine expectations; for no sooner 
had the citizens commenced dragging the piece at 
a brisk trot, than both parties tumultuously press- 
ed round its wheels, and thus unconsciously were 
brought into a fair field of action. Bacon, as soon 
as he saw the design of the movement, wheeled 
his hardy youths through the Governor’s house, 
and formed a line at the critical moment when the 
confused combatants arrived fighting over the gun: 
thus affording a rallying point for the friends of 
order and the government. The governmental 
troops immediately formed upon the line already 
partly established by Bacon and his corps, and thus 
the gun was at length brought to bear for a time up- 
on the opposing ranks. The light which had hither- 
to fitfully gleamed upon the strife, was now sink- 
ing after long intervals, and emitting that unsteady 
and wavering flame which announces rapidly ap- 
proaching extinction. A few rounds of musketry 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


117 


and one or two discharges from the small field- 
piece, and the arena of conflict was shrouded in 
impenetrable darkness, save from the momen- 
tary glare which preceded the explosions. The 
Cromwellians, locking their column more com- 
pactly together, rushed in a solid body upon the 
newly formed line of the citizens. So sudden and 
so impetuous was this movement, and so skilfully 
executed, that the brave but ill disciplined com- 
batants, against whom it was directed, gave way 
before the solid phalanx of the enemy, leaving the 
long disputed fieldpiece surrounded by the Insur- 
gents. They immediately turned its muzzle upon 
its late owners, and were about charging it with 
the usual silence and promptitude of their move- 
ments, when a bright light from a burning torch 
was seen forcing its way almost undisputed through 
their ranks. The Cromwellians stood aside for its 
passage with an irresolute sort of tardiness, pro- 
duced by a doubt whether the bearer were a friend 
or an enemy. But they were not left long in 
suspense, for he had no sooner arrived at this 
point, now forming the line between the contend- 
ing parties, than he sprang upon the carriage of 
the gun, holding his torch aloft, so as to shed 
a glaring light upon the assembled multitude of 
both parties, who stood now for a moment of truce, 
in wonder at the strange ^ind gigantic figure before 
them. 

Holdl’’ said he in a loud authoritative voice, 
and waiving his hand with a commanding gesture 


118 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


over the ranks of the Roundheads who crowded 
round him. “Wh(jre is your commander, Worley?*' 
‘‘He is slain,** answered twenty voices. 

“His blood be upon his own head. Where is 
he who commandeth in his stead?** 

“ Here am I,** said a short black visaged thick* 
set man. “ Here am I, Ananias Proudfit, whom 
the Lord hath commissioned this night to take 
away the wicked from the land, and to root out 
the Amalekite, and the Jebusite, and the Perizzite, 
and the Hittite, and the Girgashite and the Amo- 
rite. And aije not this council and this wicked Go- 
vernor justly comparable to the five Kings who took 
shelter in the cave of Makkeda, who were** — 
“Peace, brawler, peace,** thundered the gigantic 
umpire, “and cease to pervert the word of God 
to thy nturderous and unholy purposes. Take 
warning by the fate of thy predecessor. Thou 
would’st not listen to a more safe and peaceable 
admonition, administered in humility and good 
faith. Now I tell thee that if thou art still deaf, 
this good sword shall cleave thy hardened skull,** 
and he drew his formidable weapon and brandish- 
ed it over the torch. “Hahi sayest thou so,’* 
said the enraged Proudfit, aiming a deadly blow at 
the gigantic figure towering above him, but which 
the stranger struck aside with the ease of a wary 
and practised swordsman, and in the next moment 
as he had promised, drove his ponderous weapon 
into the skull of his assailant. Then hurling his 
torch into the advancing throng of the Independ- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


119 


ents, he brandished the huge glittering blade in 
, fearful circles around the besieged gun, and quick- 
ly cleared a space for its more dexterous and effec- 
j tual employment. 

I The fight was now renewed in all quarters, but 
evidently to greater disadvantage on the part of the 
Insurgents, than they yet had to contend with. 
The loss of their commander a second time, even 
in the ordinary course of warfare, would doubtless 
have disheartened them, but the circumstances un- 
der which the last had fallen — the superstitious 
reverence in which they were accustomed to hold 
the Recluse — all contributed to damp their ardour, 
to say nothing of the bloody barricade he had al- 
ready piled around his person. They were now, 
too, in a comparatively open field, where the great- 
er numbers of their enemies could avail much, and 
where no opportunity was aiforded for the fatal 
grapple which had so well served the rebels in the 
earlier stages of the conflict. They were assailed 
from all points of the square at the same moment, 
while the Recluse, in the very heart of their ranks, 
was literally hewing them down like weeds and 
cumberers of the ground. No quarter was asked or 
given — they had staked their all upon the success 
of their enterprise, and seemed determined, long 
after all hope of success in their first project must 
have failed, to leave a bloody monument to their 
fpolhardy courage, if not to their wisdom and fore- 
thought. Nathaniel Baconj exhausted by the loss 
of blood from wounds received in the desperate 


120 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


repulse of the insurgents during the early part of 
the engagement, and feeling his tremendous re- 
sponsibility for his inadequate preparations, no 
longer so onerous or so urgent upon himself, fell 
upon the field, and was borne to the house of his 
early friend and patron. 

With the powerful aid of the Recluse, and the 
accumulating reinforcements from the loyal citi- 
zens of the town, the remainder of the gallant but 
misguided zealots were soon either cut down, cap- 
tured, or put to flight. The slain of the Cavalier par- 
ty were laid out in the State House, while those of 
the opposite faction were deposited in the tobacco 
warehouse, so lately the scene of youthful revels. 

The wounded were removed to the houses of 
their friends and relations throughout the city, and 
in a short time as profound silence reigned along 
its deserted streets as if no one had arisen to dis- 
turb its peace. Not an individual could be found 
'who had seen the Recluse after the termination of 
the struggle. The slain were carefully examined, 
but no such huge proportions as his lay stretched 
in death, among the gory trophies of his prowess. 

The veteran^soldiers, so many of whom had fall- 
en, while others were confined within the jail of the 
colony, were a remnant of Cromwell’s sold iers who 
had been sent from the parent country, on account 
of their restless and dangerous propensities, some 
of them had been sold into temporary bondage, 
while others established themselves in business or 
planting on their own account. They had formed 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 121 

XhQ desperate resolution of rising upon the gover- 
nor and his guests while seated over their wine, 
supposing that, in the promiscuous massacre which 
they had intended to perpetrate, all the council- 
lors, and leading men of the colony would be 
swept away, and themselves thereby enabled to 
revolutionize the government. 

The Recluse had doubtless been vainly urged to 
join their desperate faction, and it would appear 
that they had either depended upon their threats 
of vengeance as a sufficient warrant for his fidelity, 
or trusted to his supposed predilection for their 
cause, and hatred against the authorities then at 
the head of colonial affairs. Nor dqes it appear 
that he did openly and boldly betray them. Bacon 
had by some means or other of his own, pryed so 
far into the secret of the incipient rebellion as to 
learn who were the prominent leaders — by the sug- 
gestion of the Recluse, obtained through the agency 
of Virginia, he had found access to the ear of one 
Berkenhead, an influential man among them, who, 
influenced by gold and liberal promises, betrayed 
so much of the conspirators’ designs as enabled Ba- 
con to adopt the preparati on s of which we have just 
seen the result. And though they were of them- 
selves -totally inadequate, yet’ they served the pur- 
pose of keeping the murderers at bay, until time 
was afforded for the intervention of the citizens, 
and thus had preserved the lives of the Governor and 
his Council, together with those of many members 
of the House of Burgesses. The Assembly, which 
VoL. I. 11 


132 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


convened three days afterward, unanimously voted 
three, thousand weight of tobacco to the traitor 
Berkenhead^ and passed sundry pious resolutions 
of thanks to the Almighty for their deliverance, 
besides setting the day apart as one of thanksgiv- 
ing for ever after. 

The ancient city presented a strange and deso* 
late appearance on the succeeding morning, in the 
neighbourhood of the public square. Houses were 
deserted by their tenants, windows shattered, pal- 
ings pulled down, the ground stained with blood; 
guns, petronels, swords, hats, and missiles of va- 
rious descriptions lay scattered about in strange 
confusion. 

At length the' drowsy citizens were awakened 
to the importance of the day. A court of inquiry 
was assembled for the purpose of investigating the 
conspiracy which had so nearly proved fatal to the 
existing order of things on the previous night. 
The prisoner^ were brought from the jail to the 
Court House’ in irons, and all the witnesses sup- 
posed to know any thing of the matter, were in 
readiness. Nathaniel Bacon was the first called, 
but Mr. Fairfax came forward and stated that his 
wounds were so much more dangerous than had 
previously been supposed, that the surgeon strict- 
ly enjoined quiet and repose, and recommended 
if possible to postpone taking his deposition 
for the present. As the testimony was ample 
and satisfactory without his attendance, the exami- 
nation of course proceeded. Berkenhead’s depo- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


123 


sition was essentially what we have already more 
succinctly stated in explanation of the insurrection, 
and most of the other witnesses testified only to 
what the reader has already seen or surmised. There 
was one witness, however, whose testimony was 
so novel and amusing, amidst the general scene of 
confusion and bloodshed, that we must by no means 
neglect it. Brian O’Reily was called in his turn 
to give evidence on behalf of the crown on a charge 
of treason against the prisoners at the bar. 

‘‘Well, O’Reily,’’ said the examining officer, 
“ please to tell the court what you know of the 
treasonable practices of any of the prisoners at the 
bar.” 

f‘Be the twelve Apostles and St. Patrick into 
the bargain, I caught one iv them in the very act.” 

“ What act did you see, O’Reily, and which of 
these men was the perpetrator ?” 

“ Faix it was just trason itself I caught him at; 
sure if I hadn’t brought^ his head acquainted wid 
my shelaleigh, he’d ivmurthered one of the king’s 
officers iny way — young master Bacon.” 

“ Well, tell us which of these men it was, and 
any thing you know concerning the getting up of 
this rebellion.” 

‘‘ The man’s not there at all at all — he’s at ano- 
ther bar, and has been this ten hours gone.” . 

“ He’s at^the bar of Grod, you mean ?” 

“ I mane no sich thing, axing your honour’s par- 
don for conthradictin you. Here’s the key that’s 
turned an ’im ; besides, didn’t I slape by the door 


124 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


all night wid nobody for company bttt a small dhrop 
iv whiskey, and didn’t I spake to him this mofning 
through the key hole, and didn’t he coax and pa* 
laver wid me to let hipi out, and didn’t he come 
over me wid his wife and nine childre, one at the 
breast, barrin that I knew it was a d — d lie at that 
same recknin, savin your presence, an didn’t he 
fret about bein cooped up in sich a place all night 
wid nothin to ate an the same to dhrink, barrin 
the hay that was in the [rack, an didn’t I answer 
him from the contints iv the book, sayin that 
many a betther man than him had been born and 
brought up in a manger, (crossing himself) an didn’t 
he call me all sorts iv hathen names > indeed an 
he did— the best iv them was cut-throat and horse- 
thaif, only they were in the Habrew language, an 
didn’t I tell him he was a Judaite, an a wolf in 
sheep’s clothin, an that he hated the very name iv 
Bacon. And may be he didn’t call me a darn’d 
papist ? An didn’t I tell him he’d live to see his 
own funeral iny way ? an didn’t he answer me all 
about popes and bulls and papists ? Oh ! get away 
wid your blarney, says I, you’re safe now as the 
Governor’s old bull wid the short tail and the 
shambles on two of his legs, only I tould him he’d 
perhaps be Hkein the darbies on his hands instead 
of his trotters.” 

And who was this, Brian, that you held this 
long discourse with through a key hole ? You’re 
giving us another of your drunken dreams I fear ?” 

Divil a word iv a lie’s in it, your haner, hav’nt 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


125 


I just come from the stable door, and didn’t I set 
ould growler,^ the bull dog to watch by him till I 
came b^ck — sure he cant come over him *wid his 
blarney about the wife and the nine childer — 0 be 
gorra I’m so tender hearted, it was a clane temp- 
tation to me.” 

“ Who was it had the nyie children ?” 

Auld Nick fly away wid the nine he’s got iv 
them ; didn’t I tell your haner it was all blarney to 
move the tinder feelings of Brian O’Reily 

Who was it then, you were talking to through 
the key hole ?” 

An ’is it his name your haner’s axing after all 
this time 1 couldn’t you just say so at wanst, an 
not throw me out wid the story all thegither ? It’s 
the Divil’s own aid-the-camp I’m thinkin. It’s the 
man that makes swords all the time he’s makin 
horse shoes, they call him Worley I’m thinkin.” 

Worley is it possible? have you seen him 
this morning ?” 

‘‘Be the contints iv the book but I saw him 
not an hour gone, through the key hole ; he was 
stanin up to hay like the Governor’s horse, but his 
appetite sdemed to uv left him intirely.” 

‘‘ Can you show the officers where he is ?” 

“ I can do that same, I’m bould to say ; didn’t 1 
tell your haner it’s the k-ey I had was turned an 
im ?” . ’ 

“ And what is it the key of, O’Reily ?” 

“ Faix it’s the key to the Governor’s stable.”' 

11 * 


126 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


(This answer produced a loud laugh from the spec- 
tators.) ‘‘Divel a word o lie’s in it.” - 

Well, O’Reily, the officers are waiting on you ; 
only prove to us that this is not another of your 
drunken reveries, and it shall turn out better for 
you than you now expect. Since it has been ascer- 
tained that this man Worley was not to be found 
among the slain, the Governor has issued his pro- 
clamation, offering two hundred pounds for his ap- 
prehension, deaii or alive.” 

‘‘Oh!” said 0‘ReiIy, as he was going out of 
the door, “ but I’m afeard you’ll find him rather in a 
state iv thribulation, I did some killen an im my- 
self : Oh wasn’t that a beauty iv a shelaleigh ? 
Only to think ofi two hundred pounds; faix if I 
get it but I’ll have.it set in brass.” 

The officers in attendance, with Brian at their 
head,^ soon emerged from the Governor’s stable 
amidst the shouts and cheers of the m^itude. The 
unfortunate Roundhead commander was brought 
into court, suffering severely from thirst, and the 
effects of the contusion, produced by the. violence 
of O’Reily’s blow. 

We will not detain the reader over, revolting 
portions of the trial either now or hereafter; suffice 
it to say, therefore, in brief, that O’Reily received 
the interest of two hundred pounds ever afterwards, 
for his capture of .the Rebel Chief. Four of the 
ringleaders at the second, and final trial were con- 
demned and speedily executed, and the others 
recommended to mercy. Thus was terminated 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


127 


this sanguinary conflict^ the last convulsive throe 
of the Independent faction in the British domi- 
nions of North America. 

As our tale is no farther directly connected with 
this ill-advisfed and hopeless insurrection, we pro- 
ceed in the next chapter with the direct thread of 
our narrative, the principal personages of which 
were so directly concerned in the bloody affair just 
related, that we could not pass it over with any 
kind of regard to historical accuracy. 





128 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


chapter X. 

DtjRiNG the whole of the day succeeding the 
insurrection, our hej'O lay in the most precarious 
and dangerous state; and'the violent inflammatory 
action produced by several large sabre wounds so 
much unsettled his reason, that the surgeon was 
compelled still farther to deplete his already ex- 
hausted frame. Towards night his mind recovered 
its powers, but his strength was still gone, and he 
lay upon his couch in all the helplessness of infan- 
tile impotency; and toward evening, exhausted by 
the previous night of turmoil and strife, succeeded 
by a day of feverish restlessness, he at length fell 
asleep. ^ 

There was one never-wearying ey^liat watch- 
ed the fitful slumbers of the invalid. Conscious, 
perhaps, that Bacon could never be more to her 
than a friend arid protector, Wyanokee delighted 
in rendering him those quiet, but constant and 
indispensable services which his situation required. 
Not a change of his ever-varying countenance, as' 
the workings of a diseased and excited imagination, 
were from time to time portrayed upon his pale 
and already attenuated features, escaped her, while 
her own beautiful and expressive countenance, vi- 
vidly displayed, in rapid and corresponding chang- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


129 


es, her sympathy with the sleeping sufierer. If 
any one approached the door, her keen glance im- 
mediately arrested the intruder, her finger upon 
her lip, and a frown upon her brow, in her pow- 
erful and national pantomimic token of silence. 
If the eye of the sleeper opened for an instant in 
bewildered amazement at the difference between 
the real scene before hirh, and the one from which 
in sleeping fancy he had just escaped; her wild 
and imaginative susceptibilities were instantly on 
the alert. 

The mind of the aboriginal, even when partially 
cultivated, is overcome with superstitious rever- 
ence and awe, in the presence of one under the 
excitement of a diseased imagination. Such had 
been the state of feeling with Wyanokee during the 
whole of Bacon’s , mental hallucinations through- 
out the day, and now as she watched at his bed- 
side, during his uneasy slumbers, her keen per- 
ceptions were tremulously alive to each success- 
ive demonstration. There was one member of the 
family, however, who entered and departed from 
Ihe room unchallengedr-Virginia! At this moment 
she entered— her own tender sympathies wrought 
upon by all ,the late harassing events; although 
differing in their developments and cause in some 
respects, they were in no wise inferior in degree to 
those of her proteg6e. She moved with noiseless 
step and suppressed respiration until she stood 
over the couch pf the wounded youth. Long and 


f 


130 CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 

feelingly she gazed upon the sharp and pallid 
features; there was naught of passion in that gaze 
— it was pure and heavenly in its origin, as in its 
motive. Her moistened eye, with a movement 
almost peculiar to the sick room, or the funeral 
chamber, turned slowly upon her attendant. No 
melting and sympathizing tear softened the bril- 
liant. and penetrating eye which met her gaze; 
there was excitement, deep excitement, but not 
the mellowed emotion of regulated sympathy; in 
Wyanokee, the imagination controlled the heart 
— in Virginia, the heart subdued and softened the 
imagination. 

There was something touchingly beautiful in the 
moral development of these^two young and in- 
nocent hearts. There was a mutual instinctive 
understanding of each, with regard to the position 
of the other, in relation to the wounded youth be- 
fore them; yet it had never been admitted even to 
their own consciousness, because they had never 
[analyzed their own feelings, and circumstances as 
yet had never openly betrayed them to each other. 
As they mutually exchanged glances, somethinglike 
an electric thrill passed chilly through their veins, 
but it was only for an instant; the reasoning facul- 
ties of the mind examined it not — they were not 
in a situation to examine it — imagination controll- 
ed the whole mental organization of the one, and 
the tenderest and purest emotions of the heart that 
of the other. Virginia came to relieve the faith- 


131 


♦ 

Cavaliers of Virginia. 

fill and indefatigable Indian maiden, and as the 
i only practicable means, sent her under some pre- 
text to her mother. She now occupied a seat near 
! the foot of the couch, in full view of the sleeper’s 
countenance, faintly illuminated by the subdued 
rays of a shaded lamp. She had watched the vary- 
ing and magnetic vibration of muscle and nerve for 
nearly an hour, when t)ie eyes of the sleeping 
youth slowly and wildly opened upon her in a 
bewildered stare, and at length he spoke. — 

I ‘‘The senses are not the only vehicles for com- 
municating passing events to the mind,” said he, 
i his voice already hollow and sepulchral from the 
previous excitement of the brain. Virginia un- 
derstood him not, but supposed that hi^ mind was 
again wandering, but it was not so; his mental 
perceptions were preternaturally clear, as they 
sometimes are after painful cerebral excitements. 

She made him no answer, hoping that he would 
again close his eyes to repose. But he continued, 
“ How else can we gain knowledge of things 
which have transpired when all' the senses are 
shut up in profound slumber? Just now I slept 
deeply, but not soothingly, and I thought I was 
on the brink of destruction, from which none but 
you could save me; and that Wyanokee persisted 
in attempting the rescue, and the more she strug- 
gled the more irremediable became my difficulties. 
At length you appeared upon the scene, leaning 
upon your mother’s arm, and she carried away 
Wyanokee while you redeemed me from destruc- 




132 GAVALtfiRS OP VIRGINIA. 

tion. This is indeed no farther true than that yod 
have taken the place of your attendant, and that 
your mild sympathizing countenance is far more 
genial to my present weakened state, than her 
wild and startling glances. But does it not seem 
as if my mental perceptions had caught a glimpse 
of passing events without the intervention of the 
animal senses?” 

Virginia put her finger upon her lip and shook 
her head, to remind her charge that strict silence 
was enjoined. For this there were other motives 
acting upon her perturbed feelings besides the in- 
junction of the surgeon^ had they been wanting. 

The invalid closed his eyes, and in a short time 
seemed to sleep more calmly and soundly than he 
had yet done. It being the portion of the night 
through which Virginia had insisted upon watching, 
she moved quietly to a couch by the window 
looking upon the river and the blue hills beyond, 
and threw herself upon it and gazed out at the en- 
chanting scene. Her own flower garden lay be- 
neath the window, stretching away towards the 
river, and ornamented midway with a tasteful little 
summer-house designed by herself, and decorated 
by the hands of the ingenious youth who now 
lay so helpless before her. The air was balmy 
and serene, and redolent of the, richest perfumes of 
fruits and flowers just bursting into maturity with 
the advancing summer. Millions of stars twink- 
led in the high cerulean arch of heaven, and were 
reflected back from the broad expanse of waters 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


138 


Wneath, with an enchanting brilliancy. The 
murmuring waters of the Powhatan rippled alogn 
the sandy shore with a melancholy monotony, in- 
describably soothing to her harassed and troubled 
mind. The various noises of the busy world around 
were one by one sinking into silence. Occasion- 
ally the profound stillness which succeeded, dis- 
turbed by the distant bark of a watch-dog, or the 
more rural cackling of geese, faded away in the 
distance so imperceptibly as to leave the mind at 
a loss to know whether they were real sounds, or 
those associations with the scene which the ima- 
gination often conjures up to bewilder us on such 
I occasions. Her eyes were half closed for a mo- 
i ment under these soothing and seducing influences, 
j and the next, quickly opened to catch the fiery 
track of some darting meteor as it winged its way 
through the starry heavens, or to follow the hum- 
bler lights borne through the air by myriads of 
fire flies which brilliantly floated upon the transpa- 
rent atmosphere. A wild and startling note from 
some beast of prey, as it roamed through the 
trackless and unsubdued forests beyond the river, 
occasionally istruck upon her ear, and ever and 
anon she turned her eyes toward her sleeping 
charge, and all the painful and harassing feelings 
of the last few days returned. It was like awak- 
ing from a delicious dream, to the stern reality o^ 
some pressing and constantly obtrusive misfortune. 
Her previous life had been tranquil and unruffled,* 
until now her spirits buoyant and elastic. Sudden- 
VoL. I. 12 


134 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


ly the scehe had changed, and all the unmarked 
and unrecorded pleasures of her youthful years 
were lost in the cares and troubles of the present. 
She imagined herself the most irremediably wretch- 
ed being in existence. So new was unhappiness to 
her, that the slight cloud which now hung between 
her and the happiness she had enjoyed seemed 
fearfully dark and lowering. 

But again the soothing influences of the scene 
without imperceptibly stole upon her senses, and 
she fell into a slumber. Her imagination, now 
uncontrolled by the sterner qualities of mind, 
mingled the images retained from the stirring 
events of the last few days in the most fantastic 
forms. She saw her mother enter the garden with 
a slow and solemn step, clad in the habiliments of 
the grave. 

Her form was aerial and graceful, and her fea- 
tures supernaturally beautiful and glorious. Pre- 
sently this figure was met by another of colossal 
proportions, approaching the summer house from 
the opposite end of the garden ; his step was grand 
and majestic, and his countenance stern and war- 
like. He was clad in complete armour, and his 
mailed heel as it struck the gravel, sent the blood 
cold to her heart, and at once convinced her of the 
reality of the scene. As the figures met they 
paused and seemed to hold communion for a time, 
and then pursued their way together ; but when 
they returned to view, the relations of the parties 
were changed, the colossal figure was using the most 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


135 


violent gesticulation, to which his companion seem- 
[ ed to bow her head in meekness and submission, 

I but not in conviction. At this the other suddenly 
I sprang forward, seized his victim, and was about 
I to leap the garden walls when an attempt to scream 
I dispelled the illusion. Virginia opened her eyes 
and glanced around the room to assure herself of 
I the reality of the scene before her. The wounded 
t youth still slept soundly, and the lamp still threw 
j its flickering shadows on the wall. By a slower 
i and more cautious movement of the eyes she next 
examined the garden without ; all was still and 
quiet as the grave, and gazing long and abstract- 
edly upon the little arbour she again gave way to 
the exhaustion of her physical powers, and again 
I the same figures rose upon her fancy. Now all 
doubt of their reality was discarded from the very 
circumstance of the former’s having proved a delu- 
sion. She knew the other was a dream, but this 
she felt was truth, and she even went so far as to 
reason in her mind upon the strange coincidence 
of the dream, and the present real scene. The 
gigantic figure was now clad in the gray garb of 
the Recluse, his limbs manacled wdth chains, while 
her mother knelt apart in the attitude of deep and 
unutterable wo. A crowd was gathered round as 
if to witness a public execution ; soldiers and citi- 
zens, knights and nobles mingled in the confused 
throng. The criminal was kneeling upon his cof- 
fin, the cap was drawn over his face, and the fatal 
word was given [ She awoke with the sound of 


136 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


firearms still ringing in her ears, and the piercing 
shrieks of the female figure thrilling through her 
veins. 

It may be readily imagined that her startled per^ 
ceptions were by no means tranquillized on perceiv- 
ing, as she opened her eyes, the shadows of moving 
figures upon the wall before her. In order to see 
from whom these reflections came she must turn her 
head and look in the direction of the opposite wall, 
but for her life she dared not move ! Terror chain- 
ed her to the couch. At length the shadows mov- 
ed towards the door ! By a desperate effort she 
turned her head in that direction, and to her amaze- 
ment beheld her mother dressed in white, exactly 
as she had seen her in her dream, slowly and stea- 
dily leaving the apartment. She clasped her hand 
to her forehead and endeavoured to recall her be- 
wildered senses. Tlie cuiifused images of her sluin'- 
bering and waking perceptions were so inextrica- 
bly mingled together that for a time she was utter^ 
ly at a loss to know whether the whole was real 
or a dream. Certainly the actors were the same, 
and the impressions continuous. She had not long 
lain in this bewilderment when she heard the door 
leading into the garden, just beneath her window, 
softly opened, and her mother in a few moments 
walked down the avenue in the very direction she 
had before seen her take. 

Her eyes were intently riveted upon the move- 
ments of her parent, until they were hid from her 
view by the intervening trees and shrubbery. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


137 


But she removed them not — they were still fixed 
upon the spot where she had last seen her, until 
[ her white robes emerged here and there from the 
foliage, when her eyes instinctively followed her, 
straining her already weakened organs to catch the 
slightest change of position, and seemingly desir- 
j ous to penetrate the sombre shadows of the night, 
whenever the figure upon which she gazed was 
Cl lost to view. At length the door again softly 
I opened beneath her window; and she saw the figure 
I no more. But a very few moments elapsed, how- 
1| ever, before another appeared upon the scene, of 
far more gigantic proportions and questionable bu- 
j siness at that place and hour. It was the same 
figure which she had before seen associated with 
the one which had just departed ; and now that she 
really saw them in flesh and blood, she was more 
I than ever at a loss to know which and how many 
of her visions of the night were real and which 
illusory. 

The one now before her eyes was clad in his 
usual, half puritanical, half military tunic, and as 
r usual he was fully armed, but the weapons hung 
^ quietly by his side; his arms were folded upon 
his breast, and his whole carriage and demeanour 
j was subdued, sad, and melancholy. He stood lean- 
I ing against the vine-clad column of the arbour, 
with his eyes intently fixed upon the spot where 
the preocciipant of the scene had disappeared. His 
chest heaved with emotion, which ever and anoa 
12 * 


138 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


found vent in laboured respirations of unspeakable 
misery. 

At this moment a fierce watch-dog sprung at the 
intruder with savage ferocity, and to one less ac- 
customed to danger in all its shapes, would doubt- 
less have proved a formidable foe; but in an instant 
a heavy blow from his iron sheathed sabre' laid the 
animal struggling at his feet. He stood leaning 
upon his weapon for an instant, and then moved 
slowly away until he came near the river, when he 
laid his hand upon the palisade running along the 
foot of the garden, and leapt upon the beach like 
a youth of twenty. In a short time Virginia saw 
his boat upon the water, his gigantic form rising 
and bending to his work with desperate and reck- 
less efibrts, the frail bark gliding over the smooth 
waters, ‘‘like a thing of life,” until it faded away 
in the distance to a mere speck. 

Her eye followed the receding object as it be- 
came more and more indistinct, until a mere un- 
defined point was left upon the retina, her own 
voluntary powers sinking more deeply in repose 
from the intentness with which she pursued the 
single object. 

How long she slept she knew not, but when 
she awoke the horizontal rays of the rising sun 
were beaming through the parted curtains, and the 
misty drapery from the river was rolling over the 
hills, and pouring through the intervening valleys 
in thousands of fantastic forms, weaving, here a 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


139 


rich festoon round the summit of one blue hill, 
and there spreading out a curtain of mellow tints 
before another. 

The cool and invigorating morning breeze from 
the river, joined to the effects of her last re- 
freshing and uninterrupted sleep, completely dis- 
pelled the shadowy illusions of the night, and she 
arose comparatively cheerful and happy. She 
was frightened when she cast her eyes upon the 
cbuch of the sufferer and found him awake, to 
think how much and how long she had neglected 
him. There was one indefatigable and untiring 
nurse watching by the bedside, however ! She 
liad stolen in unperceived during the night, and 
now sat upon an humble seat at the foot of the 
couch; her eye as brilliant as if it was not subject 
to the ordinary fatigues of humanity. The inva- 
lid too had slept soundly, and awakened this morn- 
ing refreshed and invigorated, and with all his 
inflammatory symptoms much abated. 

With all these cheering influences around her, 
Virginia’s countenance would have been soon clad 
in her wonted smiles, had it not been for an un- 
bidden scene which every now and then was con- 
jured up before her imagination, in which those 
near and dear to her were principal actors. But 
these, painful and inexplicable as they seemed to 
her, were far from being well defined in her own 
mind. For her life, she could not separate the 
real evidences of her drowsy senses from the 
vivid images of her imagination. She was firmly 


140 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA.. 


impressed, however, with the belief, that some 
parts of them were true and real transactions! She 
firmly believed that she had seen her mother and 
the Recluse during the night — not together cer- 
tainly, but near the same spot and in quick succes- 
sion; and she as firmly believed that she had seen 
the latter disable the watch-dog, mount over the 
palisade, and hurry away in his boat. So much was 
indeed true; her mother had actually visited the 
wounded youth during the night, and she had ac- 
tually walked in the garden, and the Recluse was 
actually there, but no meeting took place, except 
in the imagination of the worn-out maiden. 

She entered the breakfast room with these vari- 
ous impressions, real and imaginary, curiously 
mingled and confused, and bearing upon her own 
countenance an expression of embarrassment not 
less surprising to her mother, who was the first 
person she encountered. Twenty times she was 
on the point of asking her mother whether she had 
walked in the garden during the night, but as often 
a strange embarrassment came over her, resulting 
partly from what she thought she had seen, and 
partly from words dropped by the Recluse in her 
hearing — the whole confused, unarranged and undi- 
gested — the latter perhaps being entirely unrecog- 
nised by her consciousness, but still operating im- 
perceptibly upon her conduct. She was not a 
little astonished, therefore, when her mother came 
directly to the point occupying her own thoughts 
at the moment, saying, as she approached her, and- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


141 


affectionately smoothed down the clustering ring- 
lets upon her brow. ‘‘You slept upon your post 
last night, my dear daughter ? Nay — no excuses 
—there needs none. You wanted rest, little less 
than he whom you watched.’^ 

“ I did not sleep so soundly as you imagine, my 
dear mother; I saw you, methought, either sleeping 
or waking, and to speak truly, I scarcely know 
which state I was in;” and as she spoke she cast a 
searching glance at her mother, but her counte- 
nance was calm and unruffled as she replied, 

You must have been sleeping, my dear Virginia, 
I stooped over you and kissed your cheek as you 
slept.” 

“ And did you not walk in the garden ?” 

“ Yes I did ! is it possible you saw me and 
spoke not 

“ I did see you, dear mother, but I was afraid to 
speak.” 

“Afraid to speak! Oh! you were afraid of 
waking Nathaniel ?” 

“No ! no ! I was frightened at the appearance 
of your companion in the garden.” 

“My companion in the garden! my poor child, 
you must indeed have dreamed ; I had no com- 
panion in the garden.” 

Mr. Fairfax coming in at this moment, Virginia 
hastily took her chair at the head of the table, and 
busily commenced her duties at the table, her 
thoughts all the while occupied upon any thing 
else, 


142 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


What a strange being is that Recluse,” said 
Mr. Fairfax, with apparent non chalance, ‘‘have 
you ever seen him, my dear?” addressing his wife. 

Virginia dropped the plate she was in the act of 
handing to her father and was seized with, to her 
parents, the most unaccountable embarrassment. 
She endeavoured to make some excuse in order, as 
she supposed, to hide her mother’s inevitable con- 
fusion. But the latter calmly replied, “ No, my 
dear, I have never seen him. I have always had 
some curiosity to behold him, but now that he has 
proved himself such a public benefactor, I shall 
not be satisfied till the wish is gratified. Natha- 
niel had before excited us much by his account of 
him, but now I suppose the whole city will be 
eager to pay him their respects.” 

Virginia stared at her mother during: this speech 
in the most undisguised astonishment, until she 
saw the calm serenity of her countenance — the 
expression of truth and sincerity, which had never 
deceived her, so strongly portrayed there, when, 
she was again lost in bewilderment, which lasted 
throughout the meal. Her parents, however, were 
too much engaged with their own subject of dis- 
course to observe her unusual abstraction, and the 
meal therefore and the dialogue came to a close 
without any farther development pertaining t<o, 
our narrative,. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


143 


CHAPTER XI. 

”The eager pack from couples freed, 

Dash through the bush, the briar, the brake, 

While answering hound, and horn, and steed, 

The mountain echoes startling wake.” 

The Wild Huntsman* 

A PEW days after the events recorded in the 
last chapter, the denizens of the ancient city were 
roused betimes by the sounds of the hunter’s horn, 
the echoing chorus of the eager hounds, and the 
neighing of the fiery steeds, as they were led forth 
to the gallant pastime of the chase. The river 
and overhanging hills were enveloped in an im- 
penetrable veil of mist, and the dew settled in a 
snowy cloud, upon the hair and castors of the 
Cavaliers as they issued from their doors, rubbing 
their eyes and preparing to mount the mettled 
coursers which pawed the earth and blew thick 
volumes of smoke from their expanded nostrils. 
These preparations for the enlivening sports of 
the field were not confined to a small number of 
the civic youth, or to the keener sportsmen among 
their elders — all the gentry of the town and colony, 
with few exceptions, were assembled on the occa- 
sion. 

Sir William Berkley wih his numerous guests, 


144 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Gideon Fairfax, with his fellows of the Council, 
the members of the House of Burgesses, now prin- 
cipally occupying the hotel of the “ Berkley 
Arms,” Frank Beverly, Philip Ludwell, Charles 
Dudley, with the Harrisons, the Powells, &c. all 
now came curvetting into the public square, dressed 
in their gay hunting jerkens and neat foraging 
caps, some with bugles swinging from their shoul- 
ders, and others with firearms suspended at their 
backs. 

A stately gray-headed old negro, known by the 
cognomen of Congo, was in command of some half 
score of more youthful footmen of his own colour, 
in the livery of the Governor, each of whom held 
the leashes of a pair of hounds. 

These, from time to time as old Congo wound a 
skilful blast upon his bugle, opened a deafening 
chorus, which echoed through the surrounding 
forests, and awakened from, their slumbers the 
drowsy citizens of the town. Many a damsel 
peeped from her lattice to catch a glimpse of the 
gay Cavaliers as they wheeled into the place of 
rendezvous in parties of tens and twenties, all noisy 
and boisterous ; some with the anticipation of the 
promised sports, and others from the more artifi- 
cial stimulus of a morning julip. The sound of 
Congo’s bugle had reverberated through the silent 
streets in signal blasts to the grooms of the gentry 
at a much earlier hour of the morning, so that 
many of the high-born damsels inhabiting the pur- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA . 


145 


Ireus of this little court, were also on the alert. 
Among these our heroine, awakened by the echo- 
ing chorus of the “hunter’s horn,” was already 
dressed and smiling from her window, like one of 
her own sweet flowers, upon the gay young Cava- 
liers, as they passed in review before her. 

In an adjoining window was another inhabitant 
of the same mansion, roused by the same cheering 
notes, but he smiled not upon the joyous throng as 
they gathered around the spot occupied by Congo 
and his canine favourites, nor yet upon those of 
the gay youths who rode up and touched their 
beavers respectfully to the smiling maiden as they 
singly or in pairs cantered away over the bridge 
in pursuit of their day’s sport. It was Bacon ! his 
head bandaged and his countenance pale and wan 
from his late illness and loss of blood. 

Nevertheless he was dressed, and as eager for 
the sport as any youth among them, but exhausted 
nature negatived his feeble efforts and longing aspi- 
rations, and he had seated himself at the window 
in sullen disappointment. This latter feeling was 
in nowise subdued by the sight of Frank Beverly, 
already recovered from his slight wounds, dressed 
in a scarlet jerken and hunting cap^ a bugle over 
his shoulder, and mounted upon a noble animal ap- 
parently as eager to display his fine proportions as 
his master. The thundering clatter of the char- 
gers’ heels as this numerous cavalcade now passed 
in long succession over the bridge before the gaz- 
ing citizens, thus untimely awakened from their 

VoL. I. 13 


146 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


slumbers, at length began to die away in silence^ 
broken at intervals by the measured tramp of an 
occasional party of the more staid, older and 
less eager Cavaliers, pursuing the main body at 
a pace more suited to their age ; or by the gallop 
of some slumbering sluggard hastening to overtake 
his more punctual comrades of the chase. Now 
and then a note from the bugle of some overjoyous 
youth, as he entered the forest, brought a frown 
upon the brow of old Congo, whose look was 
turned in silent appeal against these irregular pro- 
ceedings, to his master, who rode apart in earnest 
conversation with Mr. Fairfax. While our sports- 
men are thus joyously moving on their way to the 
appointed spot, we will pursue the thread of the 
dialogue between the two dignitaries just alluded 
to, as it had reference to the leading personages of 
our story. 

Nay, treat not my apprehensions lightly, Fair- 
fax ; is not that youth who leans so disconsolately 
out of your window this morning, a proper knight 
to catch the errant fancies of a girl of sixteen ?” 
said Sir William. 

“ He is indeed a right well-favoured boy,’^ re- 
plied Mr. Fairfax, “ and one calculated to win his 
way to a colder heart than that of a maiden near 
his own age. Was he not thfe means of your own 
preservation, Sir William, from the knives of 
yonder murderous fanatics cooped up in the jail 
of the city 

** Ay said his companion, drily, I grant 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


147 


him to be all that you say he is ; but does not that 
enforce more powerfully what I have been saying ? 
Ought you not under such circumstances, to ac- 
I: quaint him with the necessity of his finding another 

j house than your’s for his home, where your daugh- 
[ ter is constantly before his eyes, and what is more 
j important, where he is constantly before her’s, not 
only v/ith the attractions of his own well-favoured 
person, but in the interesting character of her fa- 
ther’s and her uncle’s preserver ?” 

If the poor youth had ever presumed upon 
his position in my family, to make advances to 
my daughter, then indeed there might be some 
; propriety in the course you recommend, Sir Wil- 
' liam. But I have observed him closely since our 
I last conversation on this subject, and lam satisfied 
I; that there is nothing more than fraternal affection 
j! between them.” ^ 

It is very difficult, Fairfax, for the parties 
themselves to draw an exact line, where the one 
kind of affection ends, and the other begins; the 
gradation from mere brotherly regard to love is 
so very imperceptible, that the very persons in 
j whom it takes phce are often unconscious of it, 

I until accident or warning from others forces it 

i upon their apprehension.” 

j But where is the necessity of examining into 

I Ihese fine distinctions now, Sir William? Where 
is the point of the matter.” 

To that it was my purpose to come presently, 


148 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


but you are always so impetuous and sanguine, if 
you will permit me to say so, that I have found it 
difficult to discuss this matter in your presence, 
with all the coolness and deliberation which ought 
to attend the negotiation of an alliance between 
the kinsman of his majesty’s representative in the 
Colony, and the daughter of his nearest relative — 
the heiress probably of both their fortunes.” 

‘‘But has not the match between Virginia and 
Frank been a settled matter for years?’^’ . 

“Ay, truly, Fairfax, and I am rejoiced that 
you remember it; but was it not also agreed, for 
wise purposes, that the parties themselves should 
know nothing of the contract until Frank becatn® 
of age?” 

“True, and what then?’” 

“That time has been passed some months.” 

“Indeed!” 

“Ay, and what is more important to the hap- 
piness of(the young pair, Frank himself has mov- 
ed in the business without any prompting front me. 
This, you know, was what we desired, and the 
very end for which the matter was kept from their 
knowledge.” 

“He has then proposed himself tp Virginia, and 
she has doubtless accepted him! All right, all 
right. Sir William. I always told you it would 
turn out jusl in this way. Every thing turns out 
for the best. You see the advantage of leaving 
the young people to themselves^” 


^AVALrERS OF VIRGINIA. 


149 


yes, it has all turned out very happily 
in your sanguine imagination ; but you run away 
with the matter without hearing me out.^^ 
j ‘‘Did you not say it was all settled? I certainly 
understood you so !’^ 

“No, I said nothing like it. I said that my 
i young kinsman had moved in the business with- 
out my prompting; and I intended to say, if you 
I had permitted me, that he had authorized me, this 
I day, to make a formal tender of his hand and for- 
ij tune to your daughter, through you ; which I 
I how do.’' 

}( “Well, why did you not say so at first, Sir Wil- 
j liam, and there could have been no trouble about the 
I' matter. Instead of that, you read me a long lecture 
I . about the danger of harbouring handsome young fel- 
j lows in my house generally, concluding in particu- 
i lar with a recapitulation of the various debts of 

I gratitude due from me and my family, and yourself, 

i to poor Bacon. But as far as I am concerned, I give 
I my hearty consent to the proposed union, and you 
may so assure Frank from me, and tell him that he 
has nothing more to do, but to appear as every way 
worthy in the eyes of Virginia as he does in mine.’^ 
“There, you see, you are coming in your own 
immethodical and /precipitate way, to the very 
point with which J set out. I was merely hazard- 
ing a few observations upon the various prepossess- 
ing qualities of your proteg6e, and expressing some 
fears of the intercourse subsisting between him 
and your daughter, with a view to put you on 
13 * 


150 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGHSTIA. 


your guard at once. This was not done with a 
view to read you a lecture^ as you are pleased to 
say, but from the best grounded apprehensions that 
things were not proceeding well for our scheme.” 

Is there any ground for the fears you mention?” 

‘‘There is, Fairfax! Lady Berkley has often 
of late mentioned her apprehensions to me, » that 
there is a growing and mutual attachment between 
your ward and your daughter. Frank has ob* 
served the same thing, and indeed the very pro- 
posals I have just had the honour of making to 
you, have probably resulted from a desire on his 
part to bring the matter to an eclaircissement at 
once.” 

“ I will speak to Virginia and her mother on the 
subject, and my word for it, my daughter will 
show you that she know’S what is due to hei" 
birth and standing in society. But as to turning 
Nathaniel out of my house! I could as soon turn 
Virginia herself out. Poor boy, he has a farm of 
his own, it is true, but my house has always been 
a home to him, and it always shall be, as l6ng as 
he continues worthy, and I, continue the head 
of it.” 

“ Ay, that farm ! There was another ill-advised 
piece of generosity; not content with bringing up 
a foundling like your own son, you 'must purchase 
him a farm and stock it.” 

“Indeed, Governor, you give me credit for 
much more generosity than I have exercised. I 
purchased him no farm, or if I did, it was merely 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


151 


his agent and guardian. He furnished the 
means himself/’ 

‘‘ That was very strange ! Very strange indeed, 
that a youth without occupation, and without any 
visible fortune, should purchase and stock one of 
the mdst v^iluable plantations in the colony.” 

As they arrived at this point in their discourse, 
they had ascended to the top of one of the highest 
hills within -many miles of the city. Here they 
found the sportsmen who had preceded them, 
closely grouped together, and all talking at once, 
while Old Cong, (as he was familiarly called by 
the youths,) was engaged in slipping the leashes. 
One pair after another of the fle'et animals snuffed 
the air for a moment, and then bounde^ down the 
slope of the hill, carrying their noses close to the 
earth, and eagerly questing backward and forward 
through the shrubbery; sometimes retracing their 
steps to the very point from which they started. 

At length one of the foremosfof the pack opened 
a shrill note as he ran, indicative to the uninitiat- 
ed, only of eagerness and impatience in the pursuit 
of the game, but Old Congo’s experienced eye in- 
stantly brightened up, as with head erect, he utter- 
ed a sharp shrill whoop, and mounting his fleet 
courser, he shot down the hill with the fleetness of 
the wind, making the woods echo with his merry 
hip halloo, as he cheered them on. By this time 
the pack were following the leader in the devious 
tr£til on which he was now warm; the whole chorus 
sometimes opening in joyous and eager concert as 


152 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


they came upon the scent, just from the impress of 
sly Reynard’s feet, and then again relapsing into 
silence. These interv^ils in the cheerful cry an- 
nounced the doubt which as yet existed, whether 
the trail upon which they had struck was any 
thing more than the devious windings made by 
the game on emerging from his den, for the pur- 
pose^ as the negroes stoutly affirmed^ of throwing 
his pursuers out. It seemed indeed as if such had 
been the intention of the cunning animal, for a plan 
of the intricate ma^es which the pack were threading, 
if laid down upon paper, would very much resem- 
ble a complicated problem in Euclid, or the track 
of a ship upon a voyage of discovery in unknown 
seas. Meanwhile Old Congo was in the thickest 
of them; now cursing one refractory member, and 
again cheei'ing a favourite. The Cavaliers stood 
in groups — one foot in the stirrup and a hand on 
the pummel of the saddle, or smoothing down the 
curling mane of their impatient chargers. At 
length the problem was solved, and the hounds 
were seen coursing in a circle round the brow of 
the hill, a continuous yelp from the leader, and an 
answering chorus from the pack, announcing to 
the waiting gentry, that the game was up. They 
instantly mounted, and were presently flying over 
the uneven ground at a speed and with a reckless, 
yet skilful horsemanship, which bade defiance to all 
the perils of the chase. Here one lost his cap by 
the limb of a tree; there another measured his 
length upon the ground by the stumble of his 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


153 


charger; the main party speeding apace, regardless 
of all, save the fox and his pursuers. 

The chase, like misfortune, is a wonderful 
leveller of distinctions. Foremost in the field 
were the proud Sir William and the keener Fair- 
fax^ one upon either side of Congo, whooping and 
yelling in unison, and all distinctions forgotten 
for the moment, but the speed and bottom of their 
coursers; the countenances of the three alike ex- 
pressive of concentrated eagerness in the sport. 
To a spectator on the summit of the hill, the scene 
was not wanting in picturesque and striking fea- 
tures. The sun was just peeping over the blue 
hills, and lifting the vapours from the valleys be- 
neath, in all tjie variegated and beauteous tints of 
the rainbow, as they arose in majestic masses and 
encircled the summits of the cliffs. The cool and 
invigorating breeze of a young summer morn, 
as it was wafted through the romantic dales and 
glens, came loaded with the richest sweets of forest 
and of ffovVer. And when the music of the hounds 
was softened in the distance to a faint harmonious 
swell upon the air, the feathered tribes, luxuriant in 
beauty, warbled forth their richest strains of nature’s 
melody as they hopped from twig to twig, flashing 
their brilliant colours in dazzling contrast to the 
pendant dew-drops glittering in thb sunbeams. 
On the other hand the rays fell in broad sheets of 
light upon the tranquil waters of the noble Pow- 
hatan, as seen through the dee^ green foliage of 


154 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


the woodland vista. The city too was dimly 
visible in the distance, its towering columns of 
smoke shooting high up towards "heaven through 
the clear calm air, and expanding into fleecy waves 
as they were lost or scattered in the higher regions 
of the atmosphere. These morning glories of a 
southern sunrise were, however, lost upon our 
sportsmen, who now came sweeping round the 
base of the 'hill from the opposite side, the horses 
covered with foam,' and riders making the welkin 
ring again with their shouts of gladness and ex- 
citement. The dignity of station and of birth^. af- 
fairs of state, and all other considerations foreign to 
the business of the time, were utterly forgotten and 
abandoned, while their late proud possessors vied 
with the youngest and the humblest in seizing the 
pleasures of the chase. The horses seemed in the 
distance as if their bodies were moving through 
the air, a foot and a half nearer the ground than 
they were wont, their legs nearly invisible ; while 
their riders bent over their necks as if impatient 
even of this headlong speed. 

Ilitherto the hounds as usual, when in pursuit 
of the fox, had moved in the figure of a rude circle, 
never departing to any great distance from the 
point whence they had started, but moving round 
and round the hill ; and there was every appear- 
ance that the chase would bo thus continued until 
the game was either fairly run down, or had gained 
the shelter of his hole. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


155 


In the present instance, however, an unexpected 
reprieve was granted to the hard pressed animal. 

I The dogs, as they came round the brow of the 
j hill for the third or fourth time, struck off ah- 
j ruptly from their regular circuit ; the foremost 
I chargers were reined up, and in a^ short time the 
j whole cavalcade was brought to a stand at the 
1 point where the dogs had quitted the track. 

] The cause of this interruption to the sport was 
i readily understood by the experienced Cavaliers. 

!j A buck had crossed between the dogs and the fox, 
and the former, contrary to their usual discipline 
j and stanchness, broke off to follow the newest 
scent. Many were the imprecations hurled at the 
head of Old Congo and his deputies for this mis- 
conduct of their charge, the consequence, as was 
j affirmed, of their having been set upon the trail of 
j a buck on the previous Sabbath. It was now, 
however, too late to remedy the evil, as Congo’s 
bugle itself was not sufficient to recall the eager pack. 

Firearms were immediately unslung from the 
shoulders of such as bore them, and Mr. Fairfax, 
as the keenest sportsman, leading the way, nearly 
half of the youths were quickly seen following 
8 him up the opposite hill. Sir William Berkley and 
( such of the company as had already been worn 

. out, retraced their steps to the picturesque point 

I from which they had set out, and which has alrea- 
j dy been described. 

Here some of the footmen, retained for the 


156 CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 

purpose, speedily constructed a rude table under 
an ulTibrag^ous tree, upon which was laid out a 
tempting display of cold viands, wines and strong 
waters. Horses were now tied to the surrounding 
trees, and their riders threw themselves upon the 
sward to repose their wearied limbs, and regale 
their longing eyes upon the good things which 
only awaited the return of their comrades. This 
delay seemed likely, however, to prove rather te- 
dious to the longing appetites of the former, who 
had not as yet broken their fast. 

Full two. hours had elapsed, and yet no token 
came of hounds or huntsmen. The patience even 
of the formal and ceremonious Sir William began 
to flag, and he forthwith ordered the bugles to 
sound a recall from the highest spot in the neigh- 
bourhood. In vain the reverberating blasts re- 
echoed from hill to hill, and fromrive^ to cliff; in 
vain they paused to listen for the music of the 
hounds or an answering signal from the keener 
sportsmen. After repeated trials the patience of 
the Governor gave way, and having set apart a 
share of the provision for their comrades, they 
fell upon the tempting display with knife and dag- 
ger. Cups of horn, and silver flagons were speedi- 
ly produced, and in a short time their absent 
compeers were almost forgotten in the general 
destruction of cold capons, tongue and ham. 

Towards the conclusion of the repast, the ab- 
sent sportsmen began fo drop in singly and at 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


157 


intervals. The bridles of their foaming horses 
j were thrown to the grooms, and they fell upon 
j the wine and fowls like famished soldiers, after a 
long day’s march. Then came a panting hound, 
crouching beneath the legs of a horse, with his 
i tongue banging from his mouth ; then another, 

! and another, until they had all obeyed the sum- 
! mons of the bugle. 

I None of the huntsmen who had returned as yet, 
had been in at the death; but it was supposed that 
Mr. Fairfax, the only one now missing, had been 
more fortunate, as the hounds that came in last 

|| were covered with blood. He was momentarily 
expected, but they' listened in vain for the sound 
of his horn. Old Congo was despatched over the 
hills to summon him with his bugle, but he like- 
wise returned without any tidings of the absent 
Cavalier, and without having heard, any answering 
notes to those of his own horn. Hours were spent 
in waiting for him, at first occupied by the younger 
Cavaliers in various games and athletic sports, but 
as the day waned apace, and still no news of him 
arrived, uneasiness began to engross the minds of 
j his associates. 

By the orders of the Governor, the whole Ca- 
I valcade spread themselves, and scoured the forests 
I for miles in the direction he had been seen to take, 

I I but no answer was returned to their shouts and 
|i bugles, and no token of his presence and safety 

was discovered. Occasionally two parties were 
brought together by a supposed answer from his 
VoL. I. 14 


158 


CAVALIERS OE VIRGINIA, 


bugle, but it was found to be only the reply ofonc^ 
scouring party to another. 

After a long and fruitless search, they resolved 
to hasten to the city, in hopes that he had' reached 
his home by some other route, and in case this 
supposition should prove fallacious it vva^ resolved 
that the whole male population should be called out 
to the search. The distance was accomplished with 
a speed and recklessness quite equal to that with 
which they had performed it in the morning, but 
with feelings very different. A general and gloomy 
silence pervaded their ranks. Gideorl Fairfax was 
one of the most universally popular Cavaliers in 
the Colony; he was generous^ hospitable, and sin- 
cere, with his equals, and humane and affalde to 
his inferiors. His own slaves idolized him, and 
would have readily perilled life and limb in de- 
fence either of his person or his reputation. 

When the cavalcade arrived at the bridge, their 
painful suspense ,and anxiety were little relieved 
by perceiving an immense crowd assembled round 
the house of Mr. Fairfax. That some accident 
must have befallen him they had too good reason 
now to apprehend, else what could have drawn 
the multitude together? The arrival of a success- 
ful huntsman, was an affair of too frequent occur- 
rence at Jamestown to excite the present visible 
commotion. The returning and anxious Cavaliers 
were soon met by the eager throng, who pressed 
around them in crowds, each party demanding of the 
other news respecting their absent fellow-citizen. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


159 


The assemblage of the crowd around the house 
was soon explained by the appearance of his fa- 
vourite charger, upon which he had set out in the 
morning, so full of health, vigour and animation. 
He was held in the midst of the assemblage, his 
head-gear broken, the saddle bloody, and his sides 
dripping with mud and water, as if he had just 
crossed through the river. In this condition lie 
had presented himself at the stable door where he 
was usually kept, without his rider, and this was 
all they knew in the city concerning the fate of 
the missing horseman. This was enough to excite 
the most distracting fears in the minds of his own 
family, and the worst apprehensions in those of 
his immediate friends and more humble admirers. 

Horses and men were speedily volunteered for 
the purpoje« of scouring the whole forest in the 
dirr^otto'n of the chase. Many of the Cavaliers 
barely dismounted from one horse to mount an- 
other; and in a very few minutes, hundreds of 
citizens, some on horseback and others on foot, 
had assembled. While they were thus speedily 
collecting their forces, a scream from some wash- 
erwomen on the bank of the river, quickly drew 
the crowd in that direction. Men, women and chik 
dren rushed to the spot with feelings of anxiety 
and alarm, wrought to the highest pitch. They 
were not left long in doubt, for a boat was just 
nearing the shore, in which were two men row- 
ing, while another supported upon his lap the 
of the still living but wounded Cavalier, 


160 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


CHAPTER XII. 

Mr. Fairfax was borne to his own dwelling 
upon a litter, amidst the universal regrets and la- 
mentations of the people. The condition of hiti? 
own immediate family may be more easily ima- 
gined than described. The most heart-rending 
shrie-ts pierced the air when it was announced to 
the female part of it that the amiable and generous 
head of their house had been basely shot, — by 
whom he knew not, nor could he form a conjec- 
ture. The deed was perpetrated a few moments 
after he had himself shot the buck. He immedi- 
ately fell from his horse and was for a time per- 
fectl}’- unconscious of his condition. When he re- 
vived he found his horse gone and himself so 
weakened from loss of blood that he was unable to 
stand. His only resource was his trumpet, upon 
which he made repeated efforts to summon his 
companions, but even the sound of his horp was so 
feeble that it could not have been heard more than 
a few rods from the spot. . While he was in this 
helpless condition he chanced to discover three men 
fishing at the base of the river bank, whom he at*- 
tempted to summon to his aid, but the sound of the 
water prevented them from hearing him. With, 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


161 


great difficulty and suffering he was at length ena- 
bled to crawl down the hill to such a distance that 
he might be heard, and was thence borne to the 
city in their boat, as the reader has already been 
informed. 

The surgeon, after examining his wound, pro- 
nounced it to be of the most alarming character, 
and assured Bacon, apart from the family, that he 
ha(J little hopes for the life of his patron, who after 
the exhaustion of his painful journey and the suc- 
ceeding intense pain caused by the probing of his 
wounds had fallen into a deep sleep. 

Sometime during the morning which has been 
described in the preceding chapter, and while the 
hunting party were yet enjoying themselves undis- 
turbed by any untoward accident. Bacon had in- 
vited Virginia to accompany him in his first stroll 
through the garden since his illness. She com- 
plied with more alacrity than had been usual with 
her of late, hoping that the refreshing sweets of a 
summer morning and the cheering sight of birds 
and flowers, would dispel the gloomy misanthropy 
which had settled upon his countenance, since his 
disappointment at not being able to join the chase. 
After a silent promenade through the shady 
walks, they seated themselves in the little summer 
house already mentioned, and Bacon thus broke the 
embarrassing silence. 

Virginia, the current of events seems to be 
hurrying us on to a painful crisis ! It is impossible 
for me to shut my eyes to such of them at leasts 
14 * 


162 CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 

relate more particularly to myself. My position 
in the society in which I now move, is daily be- 
coming more painful to me. I am constantly sub- 
jected to the impertinence of those who imagine 
that they have, or perhaps really have, some reason 
to complain of the protection and countenance af- 
forded to me by your noble father.” 

‘‘ Trust then, Nathaniel, to his and our continued 
confidence and esteem, and less to the morbid sen- 
sibility which disturbs you, and all will soon be 
well again.” 

‘‘ Not so, Virginia. If we were in a little com- 
munity by ourselves, I could indeed give my 
whole mind and soul to such enjoyments as the 
society of your family has already afibrded to 
me, forgetting all the world besides, and never lis- 
tening for a moment to ambitious hopes and aspir*- 
ing thoughts. But in this proud and aristocratic 
circle, I must soon be either more or less than 
I am at present.^’ 

‘‘Why must you be more or less than you are, 
Nathaniel ?” said Virginia, with unaffected and be- 
witching naivete. 

“ Is it possible, Virginia,, that you do not see 
the reason why ? Have you witnessed the fierce 
struggles centending at my heart and never formed 
a surmise as to the real cause 

“Except the morbid sensitiveness to which I 
have already alluded, and its very insufiicient cause, 
I declare that I know of none.” 

“ Is it possible. Good Heavens ! and must I at 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


16 » 


last break through the restraints which I had im- 
posed upon myself? Must I trample upon the 
generous hospitality of the father to lay my heart 
open before his daughter ?” Her countenance un- 
derwent an instantaneous change, and while he 
continued, her eyes fell beneath his ardent gaze, 
and her head sank upon her bosom in confusion. 

“ I will indeed trust to the flattering delusion 
which hope whispers in my ear, that perhaps your 
father himself knows enough of me and of my ori- 
gin to absolve me from these restraints. It must 
be so, Virginia — else he had never trusted a heart, 
young and susceptible like mine, to the constant in- 
fluence of beauty like yours,” and he took her un- 
resisting hand, ‘^joined with such perfect inno- 
cence and such childlike simplicity as never till 
this moment to be conscious of its power'. Oh, Vir- 
ginia, I would fain believe that he foresaw and ap- 
proved of the result which he could not but anti- 
cipate. What he approves will his daughter’s voice 
confirm ? — No answer! Will you not vouchsafe one 
little word to keep my sinking hopes alive — You 
are oflended your countenance speaks the lan- 
guage which your tongue is unaccustomed to utter!” 

‘‘ What should I say ?” answered Virginia ; 

would you have me promise a return of love 
whose indulgence is dependent on contingency? 
Is it kind, is it proper to urge me upon this sub- 
ject under existing circumstances?” 

' By heavens, Virginia, there shall be no con- 


164 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


tingency of my making ! I have crossed the 
Rubicon, and you shall have the knowledge as 
you have had possession of my whole soul from 
the days of our infancy, ’^is yours, Virginia, 
\vholly yours; soul, mind and heart, all yours. 
Mould them as you will, reject me if you must, 
they are still yours. I swear never to profane 
the shrine of this first and only love by offering 
them up on any other. They are offered now, 
because my destiny so wills it. We are the 
creatures of circumstances. I have vainly strug- 
gled against the overwhelming tide which has 
borne me to this point. I. am goaded onward by 
insult — beset with menaces, and torn by the storms 
of such a passion as never man before encounter- 
ed. Can you, dear Virginia, vouchsafe to me 
some measure of relief from these distracting 
emotions? Say that you would have been mine 
under other circumstances! Say that you will 
never wed that proud and imperious Beverly! 
Say any thing, Virginia, which shall calm the 
tumults of iny bosom, and feed my hopes for the 
future.^’ While he thus spoke, the blushing 
maiden was evidently labouring under emotions 
little less powerful than his own. Her previous 
air of offended feminine dignity was fast melting 
into sympathy, with the impassioned feelings of 
the excited youth. She felt for his peculiar griefs 
and cares, and shared his warmer sentiments. The 
youth perceived the softening mood, and continued.. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


165 


Speak, I pray you, Virginia, I am in your hands. 
Speak me into existence, or banish fne from your 
presence!'^ 

do not know, Nathaniel,’’ said Virginia, after 
many attempts to give utterance to her thoughts, 
^ ‘ whether it is proper at all ti mes to speak the truth, 
but I will not deceive you now. There does indeed 
seem to be a peculiar concurrence of circumstan- 
ces around us, and more perhaps than you are 
yourself aware of. I did not intend to deceive 
you, or lead you astray; when I told you a few 
moments since that I knew nothing of any other 
struggle than that arising from your own excited 
feelings, I spoke the truth, but perhaps not the 
entire truth;” and as she spoke, a lovely blush 
suflfused her neck and downcast face; “I knew 
of other struggles indeed, but not your’s, Na- 
thaniel.” 

Were they your’s, Virginia, and of the same 
nature ? say they were, and heaven bless for ever 
the tongue that utters it.” 

That you have to ask, does more honour to 
my discretion, than I have ascribed to it myself 
of late. I have had* painful fears that I should have 
little to tell on an occasion like the present, should 
it ever come, with my father’s approbation. And 
if I have now overstepped the bounds of that pro- 
viso, it was in the hope of calming your troubled 
spirits, and preventing a catastrophe upon which f 
have looked with dreadful anticipation, since the 
night of the ins^rrectiout” 


166 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


^^And will you indeed be mine?’' 

I will, Nathaniel, whenever you gain my 
father’s approbation; but without it, never." 

At this moment the garden gate was heard to 
creak upon its hinges, (most unmusically to Ba- 
con’s ears,) and Harriet Harrison came tripping 
over beds and flowers, all out of breath, her 
cheeks glowing with the heightened colour of ex- 
ercise, and her eyes sparkling with mischief just 
ready to explode. 

Oh, Virginia! Virginia! such news!" was 
her first exclamation; ‘‘But shall I tell it before 
Mr. Bacon. 

“ YeSj if it is of the usual kind." 

“ Well, upon .your own head be the consequen- 
ces, I have accidentally overheard such a secretl 
You must know that your Aunt Berkley has been 
at our house this morning, and I overheard her 
tell my mother that there was to ]>e a great wed- 
ding immediately, and that I was to be one of the 
brides-maids. What! no tell-tale guilty blush? 
Well, who do you think is to be the bride-groom, 
and who the bride?” 

“Indeed, Harriet, I cannot even guess.” 

“ The blissful man, then, is Beverly — but can 
you name his bride ?" 

“ I should not go far hence for an answer, if you 
had not announced your nomination for. a secon- 
dary office." 

“ 0 fie, fie, Virginia, I did not think you could 
play the hypocrite so well, I will tell yqu who, 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


167 


it is then, but you must not breathe it even to the 
winds, nor you, Mr* Bacon. It is a sly arch 
little damsel, about your age and figure, by name 
Virginia Fairfax!” And with these^ words, she 
burst into a loud laugh, pointing to her companion 
with her finger, and then tripped away again to- 
wards the gate without waiting to see the effect of 
her communication ; but stopping with the gate in 
her ^ hand, she cried — ‘‘But remember, Virginia, 
Charles Dudley is not to stand up with me ; we 
don’t speak now.” And then she flew away, her 
hat hanging by the riband round her neck, and her 
raven ringlets flying loose around her temples. 
Virginia sat as one without life or motion, her face 
deadly pale, and her eye preternaturally clear and 
glassy, but without a tear. Her respiration was 
hurried and oppressed, and her countenance ex- 
pressive of high and noble resolves in the midst of 
the keenest mental suffering. She knew whence 
her aunt obtained her information, and in its com- 
munication to others in the confidence of the Go- 
vernor, before she had been consulted, she saw the 
tyrannical determination of that arbitrary old man 
to consummate this hated union without the least 
regard to her wishes or her feelings. 

As these convictions flashed upon her mind, they 
called up firm and resolute determinations, even in 
her gentle. bosom 1 she was stung into resistance 
by the tyrannical and high handed measures of her 
uncle, and resolved to resist upon the threshold. 
Bacon’s physical frame was not so steady, or his 


168 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


nerves in his present mood so well strung by high 
resolves of independent action. He too ^aw by 
whom the blow was aimed, and upon whose head 
it would principally fall, and he trembled for the 
consequences to his gentle companion. He did not 
know the strength' of her independent mind, and 
the endurance and fortitude with which she would 
carry her purposes into execution. He knew her 
to be gentle and kind and superlatively lovely, but 
as yet she had endured no trials, — her courage and 
fortitude had been put to no test. The very amia- 
ble qualities which had won his affections, served 
only to increase his doubts as to her capacity to 
resist and endure what he too plainly saw awaited 
her. He had yet to learn that these are almost 
always found united in the female bosom with a 
signal power of steady and calm resistance to op- 
pression. To this resolution had Virginia arrived, 
when his more turbulent and masculine emotions 
burst from his tongue as he seized her hand, 
‘‘ Swear to me, Virginia, before high Heaven, that 
you will never marry this proud heir of wealth, 
and worldly honours.” 

“Upon one condition,” 

“ Name it ! if it is possible, it is done.” 

“ That you from this moment give up all idea 
of a meeting with Frank Beverly, which I know 
has only thus long been delayed by your wounds 
and illness.” He dropped her hand and writhed 
upon his seat in agony — the cold perspiration burst- 
ing from his pale forehead, as he covered it with 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


169 


his hands. But presently standing up he exclaim- 
ed, Great God ! and c^in you ask this of me^ Vir- 
ginia ? Is my honour of so little value to you, that 
you can ask me to betray it ? You heard the insult ! 
You saw the dagger aimed in the dark ! Ay, and 
saw it strike upon a bare and vs^ounded nerve ! 
Shall I not resist ? Is an assassin- to thrust the point 
of his ' steel into the very apple of my ,eye, and 
meet with no resistance ? Instinct itself would 
strike back the cowardly blow. Another might 
forego the measure of fiis revenge for an ordinary 
insult, but placed as I am, an elevated mark for 
impertinence and malignity to shoot at, with no- 
thing but my single arm to defend me ^ no line of 
noblp and heroic ancestors to support my preten- 
sions, and my rank in the community; no living 
relations to give the lie to his calumnies! Standing 
alone amidst a host of powerful enemies, shall I be 
stricken down by a cowardly maligner, and never 
turn to strike ope bloxy for my good name, my mo- 
ther’s honour, my father’s memory, and my own 
standing in society No, no, Virginia ; you cannot, 
you will not, require me to promise this. One 
evidence I must' and will give to the calumniator, 
that I come of no churl’s blood.” 

^‘ But, Nathaniel, did you not resent and thus 
return his injury upon the spot 

‘‘Ay, truly, I did hurl defiance in the craven’s 
teeth, but that only Ihrows the demand for satis- 
faction upon his shoulders, so that when it is made, 
VoL. I. 15 


170 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


I may at once atone for his, and take ample repa^ 
ration for my own deep wrongs.^’ 

<< Promise me, then, that you will but act with 
Frank henceforth on the defensive? Remember 
he is my kinsman.” 

do promise; and now promise me in your 
turn never to marry this kinsman, unless I give my 
consent, or you should be absolved from your ob- 
ligation by my death, or some other irremediable 
barrier.” 

‘‘I promise, Nathaniel.” 

Scarcely had the words issued from her lips, 
when the clanking of stirrups and clattering of 
a horse’s hoofs at full speed, were heard outside the 
garden wall. 

Into what a state of consternation and dismay 
the family was thrown by the appearance of the 
bloody and panting charger at his stable door 
without his master, the reader may already have 
imagined. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


171 


CHAPTER XIII. 

It was the hour of midnight; the softened rays 
of a shaded lamp threw a flickering and uncertain 
light upon the paraphernalia of the sick chamber, 
as our hero sat a solitary watcher at the side of 
the wounded Cavalier. The long and apparently 
profound sleep into which the invalid had fallen, 
completely deceived the females of the family, so 
that they were more easily .persdaded by Nathan- 
iel to leave the charge, during the first half of the 
night, to his sole care. He had for a long time 
sat a sad and silent beholder of the unconscious 
sleeper, watching with breathless eagerness every 
change of muscle, as some sharp and inward pain 
vibrated in horrible contortions upon the counte- 
nance of the.’ wounded Cavalier. In one of these 
he started suddenly up in the bed, his eyes glaring 
wildly upon his unrecognised attendant in utter 
amazement. Fipst looking into his face and then 
to the bandages around his own person, he fell 
back on his couch — a grim and frightful' smile of 
remembrance and recognition playing for a mo- 
ment upon his features, as he placed his cold hand 
within that of Bacon, which had been softly laid 
upon his breast to soothe his startled perceptions. 


172 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Nathaniel,” said he, his voice already hollow 
and thrilling, My hour is come ! It is useless 
to disguise it. I feel and know it to be so, what- 
ever the surgeon may pretend. You need not 
place your finger upon your lip; I owe to you a 
duty which I must perform while yet I may. You 
have often importuned me, and sometimes im- 
patiently, which I did not enough, perhaps, con- 
sider to be natural to your situation, but you must 
forgive me— .-you have often importuned me upon 
the subject of your origin. If 1 had possessed 
any full or satisfactory knowledge on the subject, 
you may be sure I would not long have de- 
tained it from you. Indeed, I was little less anx- 
ious than yourself to place you upon an equal 
footing in every respect with your associates.” 
Here a smile of inward satisfaction beamed upon 
his auditor’s countenance, unobserved, however, 
by the speaker, as he continued: ‘‘There were 
some reasons too, connected with the history of 
my own family, which prevented me from di- 
vulging what little I did know of your’s. If 
I have erred, for this too you must forgive me; 
The wrong shall now be repaired. You have 
now been a member of my household for fifteen 
or sixteen years. 

“One cold and rainy day our sympathies were 
excited, by sfeeirig an athletic young Irishman in 
the street, near our door, carrying upon his back 
a well dressed boy, apparently six or seven years 
of age. The child was crying most piteously with 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 173 

cold and hunger. We called in the Irishman, and 
after furnishing him and his little charge with food, 
inquired whose child it was, and whither he was 
taking it. He answered, in his own expressive 
language, that he did not know to whom the child 
belonged, nor whither lie was taking it. That it 
had beeen a fellow passenger wdth him across the 
ocean, until they were shipwrecked at the mouth 
of the river, outride of the Capes. That a wo- 
man who had two boys near the same age, either 
of her own, or under her protection, he did not 
know which, had most earnestly prayed him to 
take one of them upon his back, as he was pre- 
paring to swim to the beach. He did so, and suc- 
ceeded in landing with his charge in perfect safetjr. 
What became of the woman and the other child 
he never knew, as shortly after the waves broke 
over the vessel, and she went to pieces. Many 
of the passengers and crew, however, had been 
saved and were scattered about through the neigh- 
bouring plantations, driven to seek employment 
by the urgency of their immediate wants. Whe- 
ther the woman and the child were among the 
number he could not learn, as tho^e who were 
saved had necessarily landed at distant points upon 
the shore. He brought the child to Jamestown in 
hopes that it would be recognised, and if not, that 
some humane person would take charge of it. His 
hopes had thus far proved fruitless, a^ to the first 
expectation, but we undertook cheerfully the latter 
task, and likewise gave employment to the kind- 
15* 


174 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


hearted Hibernian. I caused it to be made as ge- 
nerally known thrdugb the Colony, as our limited 
means of communication would permit, that such 
a child was in our possession, particularly de- 
scribing his person and clothes, but all in vain. 
I also caused search to be made for the wbman 
with the other child, thi'ough the southern plan- 
tations, but no tidings of them were ever heard, 
and we naturally concluded that .they had gone 
down with the vessel. 

‘‘ Some months after the little stranger had be^en 
thus domiciliated among us, I one day received 
an anonymous letter, which stated that the writer 
knew who were the parents of the child, but for 
important reasons of a political nature, he could 
nbt then divulge their names^ or history. He 
stated so »many circumstances connected with the 
shipwreck, and described so exactly the child, 
that we were compelled to believe him. This 
letter was followed by others at various intervals, 
from that time to the present, often enclosing drafts 
for large sums to be drawn for in England, for the 
benefit of the child. I need scarcely tell you that 
the child. was yourself — and your preserver, Brian 
O’Reilyt The name by which you are called is 
the nearest that we could come to that by whichi 
both yourself and Brian stated, you were known 
on board the vessel. ^ The {noney enclosed for 
your benefit, has been suffered to 'accumulate until 
the late purchase of the plantation at the falls, of 
which you are now in possession. Around your 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


175 


neck, at the time of your arrival, was a small 
trinket, enclosing the hair of two individuals, 
curiously interwoven, and on its outside were 
some initials corresponding with your own name, 
and the date of a marriage. This, together with 
the letters I have mentioned, you will find in the 
left hand drawer of the secretary which stands in 
the corner of my library. After opening the 
outside door, you will perceive the key hanging 
beside the drawer. These letters were never 
shown, nor the contents mentioned to my wife, 
for a reason which I am now about to explain to 
you, if my strength will permit, and which will 
also unfold to you the cause of my reluctance to 
communicate with you on this subject. 

When r first saw Emily in England, she was a 
young and beautiful widow. Early in life a 
mutual attachment was formed between her and 
the son* of a neighbouring gentleman, in rather 
more humble cireum standees than the father of my 
Emily. In consequence of this disparity in the 
fortunes and standing of the two families, their 
attachment was kept ,a profound secret between 
themselves, until the youth having joined the 
army of the Commonwealth, they eloped. This 
was their last and only resort, because* her father 
was as -determined a Loyalist as his was indefati- 
gable in the cause of the Independents and Roundr 
hqads. For two whole years^ she followed the 
perilous fortunes of her husband, now become a 


176 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


distinguished officer, during which lime she gave- 
birth to a son. For a season she resided with her 
infant at a retired farm-house, in a distant part of 
the country from the scene of strife; but her hus- 
band becoming impatient of her absence, directed 
her to procure a nurse for her boy and again par- 
take of his hazardous fortunes. Her child was ac- 
cordingly left in the charge of the nurse, and she set 
out to join her husband. On the eve of meeting 
him, as she supposed, she was niet by the news of 
a desperate engagement, in which the. party oppo- 
sed to her husband had been vi(^toriogs, and very 
shortly afterward, she was herself, with her attend- 
ants, overtaken in the highw’ay, and captured by 
a party commanded by one of her own brothers. 
He immediately sent her under a strong escort to 
her father’s house, not however before she had 
time to learn from some of the prisoners taken in 
the engagement, the heart-rending news of the 
death of her husband. She gained these sad 
tidings from one of his comrades, who -saw him re- 
ceive the wound and fall at his side. 

“She found her father so exasperated against her 
that she dared not even mention to him or her 
brothers the existence o^ her. .cbiW, lest they 
should take some desperate means to separate them 
for ever. For aXime, therefore, she contented her-, 
self with such clandestine communications with 
her nurse as the perilous nature of the times per- 
mitted. At length the sum of her afflictions was. 


i 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


177 


consummated by the death of her infant, the ac- 
count of which was brought to her by the nurse 
in person. 

When I first saw her, these many and severe 
misfortunes had beOn somewhat softened down in 
the lapse of years. She was still a melancholy 
being, however, but I belonging to fier father’s 
party, and being of a gay and volatile turn of mind, 
and much pleased with her beauty and amiable 
temperament, offered to bring her out to America 
as my wife, whither the success of the Protector’s 
arms was then driving so many of the Nobles 
and Cavaliers of England, and where I already 
had a sister married to the then late, and now 
present Governor of Virginia. After candidly 
stating all the foregoing circumstances, she agreed 
to accept my hand. And we were accordingly 
married and sailed for the Capes of Virginia, You 
will perceive, upon a perusal of the anonymous 
letters, that the writer displays a most intimate 
knowledge of all the foregoing particulars of our 
family history. The design, as you will doubtless 
perceive, was to operate upon our superstitious 
feelings, by this mysterious display of knowledge, 
in matters so carefully guarded from the world. 
This was not at all necessary, because we had 
already adopted, and treated you as one of our 
own family. Nevertheless he partially succeed- 
ed with me. I confess to you that it has al- 
ways appeared to me one of the strangest circum- 


178 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


stances that ever came under my knowledge, that 
any living person should be acquainted with the 
facts contained in those letters. I have made the 
most strenuous and unceasing efforts to discover 
their author, by means of the European drafts, but 
all to no purpose. You will now readily com- 
prehend the reason, why I did not communicate 
with Emily on this subject. It would only have 
been opening old wounds afresh, and would pro- 
bably have excited her more sensitive feelings to 
a painful state of anxiety and suspense. The 
same reasons which influenced my conduct in this 
respect, will doubtless operate upon your own judg- 
ment when I am gone. In the same drawer is a 
will, by which you will perceive, when it is pro- 
perly authenticated, that I have left to you, in 
conjunction with others, the most sacred of all hu- 
man trusts. You will find yourself associated in 
the management of my affairs, with persons whom 
I knew at the time to be uncongenial with you in 
your general feelings, but upon this one subject 
you will all be influenced by one desire. Go- 
vernor Berkley and Mr. Harrison will never thwart 
you in the active management, which I have left 
principally in trust to you. 

I have now rapidlj^ sketched what you will bet- 
ter understand from the papers themselves, and I 
have finished none too soon, as I am admonished 
by the return of these cutting pains.’^ 

After anpther agonizing paroxysm, he fell again 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


179 


into one of those death-like slumbers, which often 
fill lip the intervals of suffering after a mortal 
wound. 

When Bacon perceived that he slept profoundly, 
he at once gave way to the restless anxiety to see 
the papyers, by which he was consumed. Eagerly, 
but softly, he sought the library, opened the doors 
of the high old fashioned black, walnut secretary, 
with its Lion’s claws for feet, and his grisly beard 
and shining teeth, conspicuous from every brass 
ornament with which it was adorned.* 

returned to his post and opened the package 
of papers with a trembling anxiety, and intense 
interest, similar to what one might be supposed to 
feel who was about to unseal the book of fate. 

He had no sooner cast his eye upon the hand- 
writing, than the package fell from his grasp irt 
the most evident disappointment. Until this mo- 
ment he had indulged a vague undefined hope that 
from a single glance at the characters, he should at 
once possess a clue to unravel the whole mystery^ 
His mind had instantly settled upon one peculiar 
and remarkable individual in* the Colony, as the 
only one likely' to possess such knowledge, and 
from the interest wlvich that person had always 
manifested in his fate, he had almost persuaded him- 
self that he would prove to be the writer. With 

* Some idea of the rude state of the meclianic arts of the period 
may be formed by those who have seen the antiquated chair, in 
which the speaker of the Virginia house of delegates sitd to this 
day. There are many specimens too of ancient furniture still pre- 
served in the older Counties of Virginia. 


180 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


his handwriting and the peculiarly dignified and 
stately character of his language, he had long been 
familiar. The first few lines over which his eye 
glanced rapidly and eagerly, convinced him of his 
error ; neither the characters nor the language were 
his. Nevertheless they possessed sufficient inter- 
est, after the momentary disappointment had pass- 
ed away, to inducehim to grasp them again and once 
more commence their perusal. In this occupation 
he was soon so completely absorbed as to be un- 
conscious of the time which elapsed, the situation 
and circumstances in which he was placed as re- 
garded himself, as well as the wounded Cavalier, 
who lay in the same apartment. In unfolding one 
of the papers he came upon the gold trinket men- 
tioned by his benefactor. Here again was a new sub- 
ject of intense interest. ‘‘ This,” said he to him- 
self, ‘‘ was worn by my mother and was placed 
around my neck at our last parting.’’ Here was 
a fragment of her tresses precisely similar in cha- 
racter and colour to his own, interwoven with the 
darker shades of those of his father. Here too 
was the date of their marriage and the initials of 
their names agreeing sufficiently well with his own 
supposed age. These were all subjects of earnest 
contemplation to the excited imagmation of a yopth 
rendered morbidly sensitive on the subject of his 
birth and parentage, by many painful occurrences 
with his aristocratic young associates, and still more 
by recent deVelopnients. with the idpl of his affec- 
tions. The trinket was laid down and the manu- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


181 


script resumed, of whose contents as much as is 
important to our narrative has already been com* 
municated to the reader. The characters in which 
it was written, were successively compared in his 
mind to those of every person in the Colony who 
handled the pen. In that day it was not hard 
to remember who they were from their great num- 
ber, chirography having been an art with which 
the Cavaliers were less familiar than with the use 
of the small and broad sword. Not a scribe in the 
country wrote in characters similar to the one 
he held in his hand, so far as he could recollect. 
He thought they , resembled those of Governor 
Berkley more than of any other, yet that sturdy 
old knight had invariably frowned so much on his 
attempts to assume the place and standing in soci- 
ety to which his education and intelligence enti- 
tled him, that he could not believe him concerned 
in benefiting him, even as an agent. 

The Recluse was the only individual upon whom 
his mind ould rest as the probable author, notwith- 
standing the variance of the writing. Yet against 
this conclusion there were many powerful argu- 
ments. The first that suggested itself to his mind 
was the money. Could he command such large 
sums ? And if he could, was it possible with his 
known habits and peculiarities, not to mention his 
occasional abberration, to arrange complicated pe- 
cuniary affairs in Europe ? Then again, if he was the 
writer, why w^re these communications continued 
after he had himself arrived at years of discretion ? 

VoL. 1. 16 


182 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA 


Every reason seemed to favour the idea that he^ 
himself would have been chosen as the depository 
of these communications, had the Recluse been the 
man, especially when he reflected that he was at 
that very time possessed of* more of his confidence 
than any other person in the Colony. The papers 
were perused and re-perused, and the locket turn- 
ed over and over listlessly in his fingers, while a 
shade of deep sadness and disappointment settled 
upon his countenance. 

From this unpleasing revery he was suddenly 
aroused by the groans of the wounded sufferer, 
who now awoke in the greatest agony. When 
Bacon came to his bed-$ide a melancholy change 
was visible in his countenance. He was making 
his last struggle with the grim monster. He was 
however enabled to express a desire that his family 
should be called, but, when they arrived, he could 
not give utterance to his ideas. He took first 
the hand of his wife, and next that of his 
daughter, and successively resigned them into 
those of his young executor. This, under the 
existing circumstances of the moment, attracted 
no particular attention, but was the subject of 
many an after-thought and remark. A fev/’ con- 
vulsive struggles followed, and then the generous 
and noble spirit of the Cavalier deserted its prison 
house. 

We will not attempt to describe the heart-rend- 
ing scene which ensued. Suffice it to say, that 
after a decent and respectful delay, (far more than 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 183 

is allowed in our day,) the much loved and much 
lamented Mr. Fairfax was borne to the grave, 
amidst the lamentations and regrets of the whole 
assembled gentry of the Colony. The long line of 
mournful pageantry moved in slow and melancho- 
ly steps to the sound of a solemn dirge through the 
streets of the ancient city, and after the' usual sad, 
but appropriate rites of the established church, the 
corpse was deposited in the burying ground, which 
to this day preserves the crumbling ruins of many 
monuments of the ancient Cavaliers. 


184 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


It was some weeks after the funeral of GideoD 
Fairfax, that Bacon, attracted by the genial warmth 
of a sutnmer day, sauntered out for the first time, 
in company with his friend Dudley, to seek the 
usual rendezvous of the young Cavaliers. Scarce- 
ly were they seated in the Tap of the “ Arms,” 
before Philip Ludwell hastily entered, touched 
his castor formally to Bacon and Dudley, and 
handed to the former a note, fastened with a 
silken cord, and sealed with the arms of the House 
of Berkley. Bacon cut the cord and read the note, 
without changing countenance, and then handed 
it to Dudley, who had no sooner perused its con- 
tents, than they both arose, retired to a private 
room, and called for pen, ink and paper. The 
latter soon returned with an answer, sealed in like 
manner, and handed it to Ludwell, who again 
formally bowing retired. The first ran thus; 

Jamestown, June — , 16 — . 
To Nathaniel Bacon, Esq. 

Sir — I seize the first moment of your appear- 
ance in public, restored to health, to demand the 
satisfaction due for the grievous insult put upon 
me, on the night of the Anniversary Celebration > 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


185 


in presence of the assembled gentry of the Colony. 
All proper arrangements will be made by my 
friend Ludwell, who will also await your answer. 
I have the honour to be your most obedient ser- 
vant, 

Francis Beverly. 

Bacon’s answer was no less courteous and 
explicit. 

Berkley Arms, June — , 16 — . 
To Francis Beverly, Esq. 

Sir — Your note by the hands of Mr. Ludwell 
was this moment received. Your challenge is ac- 
cepted. To-morrow morning at sunrise I will 
meet you. The length of my weapon will be 
furnished by my friend Dudley, who will convey 
this to Mr. Ludwell, as well as, make all other 
arrangements on my behalf, i have the honour 
to be, yours, &c. 

Nathaniel Bacon. 

The following morning at sunrise, two parties of 
Cavaliers landed from their boats at a secluded in- 
let, on the southern extrenlity of Hog Island, im- 
mediately opposite the city, but screened from 
view by the depth of the overshadowing forest. A 
surgeon with his assistant soon followed. 

The two parties exchanged formal but courtly 
salutations, and immediately proceeded to the 
business of their meeting. A level grass-plot, 
firm under the pressure of the foot, and sufficient y 
16* 


186 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


cleared for the purpose, had long been set apart 
as the battle ground on similar occasions, and was 
now easily found. 

When all the parties were arrived at this spot, 
the seconds proceeded to measure the swords in 
presence of their principals. This of course was 
a mere formality required by the usages of the 
times, as the length of the weapons was already 
known and settled between themselves. 

The two young Cavaliers about to engage in 
deadly strife, were perhaps as nearly matched in 
skill and courage as any that could be found in 
the Colony. Both were in the daily practice of 
the foils, as a matter of education no less than of 
amusement. Both were impetuous by nature, and 
rash in, their actions, and both came upon the field 
longing for v-engeance in requital of wu'ongs which 
each supposed he had received at the hands of the 
other. 

Beverly was in the enjoyment of ruddy health, 
and buoyant animal impulses, hut his antagonist 
was pale, thin, and evidently labouring under de- 
pression of spirits, as well as feebleness of body. 
To a hasty and superficial observer, this state of 
the parties w’ould have seemed decidedly unfa- 
vourable to the latter; but it is very questionable 
whether the high health and robust strength of 
Beverly were not more than counterbalanced by 
the subdued but steady composure evinced by his 
antagonist, the result of long confinement and de- 
pletion. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


187 


With a slight inclination of the head in formal 
salutation, each advanced a foot and crossed his 
blade with tliat of his ahtagonist. The eyes of 
each were instantly riveted upon his enemy, with 
the steady and deadly ferocity of two wild beasts 
of pi*ey. The pause continued a few moments, as 
if each were striving to measure the hatred of the 
other; a few rapid and skilful thrusts and parries 
were exchanged, and then another interval of sus- 
pense and inactivity ensued. The next effort was 
longer and more fiercely contested, and the inten- 
tions of each in this uncomplicated warfare were 
more readily distinguished. Beverly was at each 
successive trial becoming more and more ferocious, 
while his antagonist was as evidently acting on 
the defensive, if not attempting, to disarm him. 
This now apparent intention of the latter, might be 
the necessary result of his present comparative de- 
bility, of policy — aiming to take advantage of his op- 
ponent’s impetuosity, or of his'promise to Virginia, 
But from whatever cause it sprung, Dudley thoughts 
it a most hazardous experiment to depend upon 
disarming so skilful a swordsman, and was accord- 
ingly under the most lively apprehensions for the 
fate of his friend. These were not however of 
long continuance, for at the next onset, Beverly, 
forgetting himself fora moment, as he impetuously 
flawshed his weapon in deadly and rapid thrusts, 
cried, Ha, Sir Bastard, have at your coward’s 
heart.” In the next instant Bacon’s sword pierced 
his body — his eyes glared wildly for an instant, 


188 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


his sword fell from his powerless hand, and as Ba- 
con withdrew the "weapon, Beverly uttered a 
groan and fell prostrate upon the earth. 

Bacon stood listlessly wiping his sword-blade 
upon his handkerchief, his eyes abstractedly fixed 
upon the fallen youth, like one without thought or 
reason, or rather so deeply buried in thought as to 
be almost unconscious of the scene before him. 
His thoughts' were upon his promise to Virginia, 
to act only upon the defensive. This he had in- 
terpreted far more literally than the fair girl her- 
self had designed, and it was his intention so to 
act throughout the struggle, had not his patience 
and forbearance been overcome by the taunting 
exclamation of his adversary, just preceding the 
last fatal onset. 

All the circumstances passed rapidly through 
his mind, until his meditations settled into the 
most poignant regret; not a little aggravated when 
Beverly opened his eyes, and held up his hand to 
Bacon, feebly exclaiming, ‘‘Bacon, forgive me; I 
wronged you both first and last. I see it now 
when it is too late,, but it is never too late to ask 
forgiveness for an injury.’^ Bacon grasped his 
hand, and flung himself prostrate at his side in an 
instant. “Before God, Beverly, it was not my in- 
tention, when I came to the field, to do this deed:; 
my whole effort at first was to disarm you. For- 
giveness lies with you, not with me. I have done 
you an irreparable injury, yours was but the re- 
sult of thoughtless impetuosity, for which I, as 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


189 


freely forgive you, as it was hastily and heedlessly 
offered. May God forgive us both.” 

The surgeon and his assistant now interfered in 
the prosecution of their professional duties. While 
these were in progress, all parties were silent in 
breathless attention ; not a change of the doctor’s 
countenance escaped them. At length he arose, 
and deliberately wiping and replacing his instru- 
ments in their case, walked thoughtfully some 
paces from the wounded youth. 

Bacon dared not follow to ask the fate of his pa- 
tient, but Dudley, with breathless eagerness pursued 
his footsteps, and demanded to know in few words 
his fate. Life or death. Doctor h6 hastily ex- 
claimed, as if he expected an answer in like short 
and expressive terms. 

Ours is not one of the exact sciences as to prog- 
nostication,” said Dr. Roland. ‘‘ The wound ex- 
tends from the anterior part of the thorax.” 

“ Dont tell me about the thorax, doctor, tell me 
whether there is life or death ?” 

The pleura and the right lobe of the lungs have 
been wounded, consequently there will be great in- 
flammation succeeding, both from the pleuretic and 
pulmonary excitement. These are the unchange- 
able laws of the animal economy, and will not yield 
were the son of Charles himself lying before us,” 
“ 0 damn the animal economy. Can’t you say 
in one word, life or death?” 

No, I cannot. Master Dudley. All I can say at 
present is, that it is my hope and belief, if properly 


190 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


managed, that he will not die from the hemorrhage, 
and that his chance of life depends upon his 
weathering out the inflammation mentioned.” 

There is a reasonable hope then ! Thank you, 
doctor, thank you ; may God send that his life be 
spared. Uttering this fervent ejaculation he join- 
ed his companions, who now held a consultation as 
to the most judicious plan of removing the wound- 
ed youth. One proposed that he should remain 
at a cottage upon the island; but the surgeon de- 
cided that he might be removed in a boat to the 
city as easily as he could be carried to the cottage. 
He was accordingly extended upon a rude litter, 
and deposited in the most convenient boat, upon 
such a bed as they could hastily construct of cloaks 
and bushes. 

They had scarcely emerged from the shrubbery 
overhanging the margin of the river, when a rust- 
ling noise was heard, similar to that made by the 
flight of a large flock of birds, and in the next in- 
stant a shower of Indian arrows fell harmless in 
the water, succeeded by an astounding yell of 
twenty or more savages, indistinctly seen through 
the dense fog rising from the stream. Their light 
bark canoes, of variegated colours, could scarcely 
be distinguished as they rode upon the waves like 
huge aquatic birds. The savage warriors were 
standing perfectly erect, notwithstanding the mo- 
tion of the waves and the vigorous exertions of those 
squaws who officiated at the oar and helm. Bows 
were already strung, in their hands, and they were 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


191 


again in the act of leveling them upon the party, 
when Bacon, seizing a duck gun from the bottom 
of the boat, fired into the midst of the foremost 
canoe. Three huge painted warriors leaped into the 
water and yelled and struggled for an instant be- 
fore they sunk to rise no more. Another discharge 
of arrows, and another shot frpm Bacon’s weapon, 
with like success, considerably damped the ardour 
of the pursuit. Bacon and his party had in the 
mean time urged the boat containing Beverly and 
the surgeon far ahead and out of reach of their mis- 
siles, while they protected their retreat. Having 
suffered the enemy to come within striking distance, 
he was now enabled to see that they were Chicka- 
hominies, and readily comprehended their motives. 
He was himself the object of their pursuit. They 
had watched his movements for the purpose of 
avenging the death of their chief and his followers. 
So prompt and efficient, however, was the defence 
of the party sought, that after a few harmless 
flights of arrows, and a few returns from the fire- 
arms of the white party, they hastily retreated, and 
in a short time their canoes were only seen like dis- 
tant specks on the circumscribed horizon, as they 
scudded away before the rising volumes of vapour 
or fear the dawning day should betray them and 
their hostile attitude to the notice of the citizens. 

As Bacon and Dudley stepped upon the shore in 
front of the palisade, the other party having land- 
ed and disappeared before their arrival, they stood 
to gaze over the water for an instant to ascertain 


192 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


whether any of the savages yet lingered upon the 
scene. The fog was rapidly rising from the water, 
so that their line of vision was uninterrupted for 
some distance over the bay between the islands. 

They could just perceive their late enemies 
doubling the southern point of the island upon 
which they stood, and were about to retire, sup- 
posing all further apprehension from that quarter 
at an end, when they discovered the dim outlines 
of some one upon the southern end of the island, 
making signals with a white handkerchief. They 
immediately and silently moved along the shore, 
under cover of the palisade, until they came with- 
in such a distance of the object which had attracted 
their attention, that they could discern who it vras 
themselves, at the same time remaining undiscov- 
ered. It was Wyanokee ! Her appearance at this 
early hour and solitary place, and her equivocal 
employment, produced the greatest astonishment 
and mortification in the mind of Bacon. Until 
this moment he would have pledged his life for 
her truth and fidelity. Ever since the encounter 
with the Indians, he had been wondering in his 
own mind, how they had pursued him so exactly 
to the secret place of their rendezvous. Now he 
recollected that Wyanokee had passed through the 
gallery of the State House on the preceding even- 
ing, where Dudley and himself were practising. 
She might have overheard some of their conversa- 
tion. Her presence at such a place had excited a 
momentary surprise at the time, but it all passed 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


193 


■©Ver, under the usual idea that Wyanokee was 
every where. She often glided about . like a spirit, 
.yet no one knew whither she was going, or the 
purpose of her mbvements. ‘‘ Can it be possible,^’ 
said Bacon to himself, ‘‘that Wyanokee has been 
treacherous?” 

All these corroborating circumstances, together 
with her present attitude, answered in the affirma- 
tive. Notwithstanding the strong conviction of 
this unwelcome fact which now settled on his mind, 
he could not believe her deliberately bent on his 
destruction. He had seen her exhibit many noble 
traits of character in trying situations. Besides, 
she was somewhat under his protection, and we 
are always inclined to love those whom we have 
served. She was also Virginia’s pupil, and the lat- 
ter was proud of her as such, and he himself had felt 
a sort of complacency at the progress of the maid- 
en under her tuition. His imagination had often 
dwelt upon her imaginary perfections, as so many 
reflected beauties from Virginia’s guileless heart 
and cultivated mind. No, he could not believe 
her thus meanly treacherous. Some native im- 
pulse must have been roused, some secret spring 
of her long hidden and dormant nature, must have 
been touched. Her savage ideas of patriotism had 
fired her to revenge the death of her nation’s chief. 

Notwithstanding these palliating suggestions 
which rose in his mind on the doubtful attitude 
in which he had detected her, his reflections were 
by no means pleasing, as he locked his arm in 

VoL. I. 17' 


194 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Dudley’s, and retired from the shore. Every 
thing seemed to him to conspire against his happi- 
ness. First, there was the old and ever present 
cause of solicitude in relation to his own origin, 
the doubtful nature of which had been the remote 
cause of the unhappy rencounter of the morning. 
Then there was the new attitude in which he was 
placed towards Virginia, by the death of her 
father, together with the tantalizing, partial reve- 
lations of the anonymous letters and gold locket, 
which that event had thrown into his possession, 
with the thousand surmises, half formed hopes, 
and resolutions resulting from them. Upon the 
whole, however, he could not but feel, in the midst 
of these various depressing circumstances, that his 
chance for success in an application for the hand 
of Virginia was greater with the widowed lady of 
the murdered Fairfax than it would have been 
were he alive. He knew the high position in 
which he stood in that lady’s favour. He knew 
her contempt for worldly show, pomp and cir- 
cumstance — he had always known it, but now he 
knew something of the cause in the revelations of 
her own history. He knew that she had boldly 
indulged the first predilections of her own young 
heart at the expense of her father’s and her brother’s 
favour; and his hopes were strong, that when he 
should present himself before her in something of 
a like attitude, as an applicant for the hand of her 
fair daughter, her own recollections would rise up 
before her in his favour. That there would be diffi- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


195 


culties to surmount, and prejudices to subdue, he 
knew full well. That Sir William Berkley would 
exert his power to the utmost, to prevent such a con- 
summation he also knew; but the consent of Mrs. 
Fairfax once gained, he resolved to brave the op- 
position if he could not subdue the prejudices of 
the Governor. 

The unhappy business of the morning would in 
all probability hasten the contending elements to a 
crisis. The Governor would soon know of the 
meeting and its result ; he would in all probability 
inquire into the cause of the quarrel, and his 
shrewd insight into the motives of human action 
would very soon discover that there were hidden 
impulses operating, which caused the insult to be 
given, and kindred ones in the opposite party 
which rendered the offence so much the more hein- 
ous and unpardonable. In short, he would discover 
that there was a lady at the bottom of the whole 
affair ; and that this lady was his own fair niece; 
and that the two gentlemen who had just contend- 
ed in deadly strife, were rivals for the possession 
of her favour. Such being the process of reason- 
ing in the Governor’s mind. Bacon knew him too 
well to suppose that he would delay the matter 
long before he endeavoured to bring it to a conclu- 
sion. Indeed he believed (and the reader knows 
how truly) that his excellency already saw the ad- 
vantages of the connexion as vividly as his nephew 
apprehended the sterling qualities of the lady. 
Such being the case, the result of the morning’s 


196 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


meeting, if it did not prove fatal to his rivaPs life, 
would in all probability precipitate the matter afe 
once to an issue. The Governor would no sooner 
ascertain that Beverly was out of danger than he 
would take the business in his own hands, and how 
he would manage it, and what means he would take 
to accomplish his ends. Bacon’s personal experi- 
ence in other matters fully taught him. He re- 
solved therefore to :be beforehand with him, to 
present his own claims first, to attempt to conci- 
liate the lady of his late patron, before her ear had 
been poisoned by the violent abuse which he knew 
would be heaped upon him, as well as by contempt 
for his origin. But could he imbrue his hand in' 
the blood of his rival and then present it for ac- 
ceptance ? Could he precipitate his claims before 
the family in their present melancholy state ? 

These were the subjects of his reflection, as the 
two youths entered the gates of the city, — and here 
another difiiculty arose; if he should immediately 
present himself before the family, the news of the 
meeting having preceded him, even without broach- 
ing the subject before alluded to, would not the' 
feelings excited in the mind of Virginia and her 
mother be unfavourable to his claims ? Then again, 
should he leave rumour with her hundred tongues 
to explain to the maiden the reasons which had in- 
duced him to accept the challenge from her kins- 
man, would not his cause be still more prejudiced?* 
Finally, therefore, after taking all these things into 
consideration, he came to the, conclusion that it 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


197 


was best to wait some favourable news from his 
wounded rival before presenting himself, or in case 
of the worst result, to absent himself from the city 
altogether for a time. 

Accordingly the youths bent their footsteps to 
Dudley’s lodgings, there to await intelligence con- 
cerning Beverly. It is hardly necessary to re- 
mind the reader that duelling in that day, so far 
from being considered criminal, was the sole test 
to which all differences between gentlemen were 
submitted. The influence of the custom has been 
handed down, variously modified by the circum- 
stances of the times, from one generation to ano?* 
ther,. until it has reached our own^ 


198 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA- 


CHAPTER Xr. 


For more than a week Frank Beverly lay in 
the most precarious state, and more than once dur- 
ing that period his friends were summoned to his 
bed-side, expecting every moment to be his last; 
Bacon, torn and racked with suspense, moved 
about the house of his late patron like one dis- 
tracted. He had already made his peace with 
Virginia, by explaining to her the unequivocal and 
unconditional demand for satisfaction made upon 
him by Beverly, as well as the unjustifiable taunt 
upon the field, by which he had been driven from his 
defensive attitude. But even her society failed in 
its usual attractions, while Beverly remained in 
danger. Doctor Roland, with all his technical for- 
mality, was as indefatigable in his attentions as he 
was oracular and mysterious in his announcements 
from hour to hour, and day to day, co’ncerning the 
state of his patient. These, reported to his master 
from the lips of Brien O’Reily, would form no una- 
musing subject for the reader, were not our atten- 
tion called to the more important personages and 
graver incidents of our narrative. 

As Bacon had surmised. Sir William Berkley 
was not long in understanding the real cause of 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


199 


the quarrel; he had himself heard partial reports 
of the affront and its cause on the night of its oc- 
currence. As Bacon had also expected, he seem« 
ed to await the fate of his young kinsman, before 
he took any farther steps towards promoting the 
alliance between him and Virginia. This how- 
ever did not prevent him from giving way to the 
most ungovernable rage at Frank’s condescension 
in meeting an adventurer^ “the son of no one knew 
whom.” 

At length the invalid was unequivocally pro- 
nounced to be out of danger, by Dr. Roland him- 
self. The Governor had no sooner received the 
information, than he despatched a footman with 
his most respectful compliments to Mrs. Fairfax, 
and requested the pleasure of an hour’s conversa- 
tion with her, on the most important business; in 
answer to which, a message was returned to the 
Governor, that she would be pleased to see him, at 
any moment which might suit his convenience. 
That time soon arrived, and the formal old gentle- 
man, after many apologies for the untimely intru- 
sion upon the privacy of her sorrows, ami condo- 
lence for their cause, thus introduced the subject 
to which he solicited her attention. 

“It was perhaps not known to you. Madam, 
that your late lamented husband and myself had 
long since formed a prospective arrangement, by 
which we hoped to dispose of our fortunes in such 
a manner as to add honour and dignity to our fa- 
milies, at the same time that we should preserve 


200 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


them united, and confer happiness upon our near- 
est relatives and presumptive heirs. His will, as 
I understand, has not yet been authenticated, but 
doubtless when it is so you will find that he has 
provided for the fulfilment of this design.^’ 

I do not fully comprehend your Excellency.” 

‘‘ I mean, madam, that we contemplated uniting 
in marriage, your fair daughter and my young 
kinsman, Beverly j by this means I will be enabled 
to entail my fortune on their male descendants, 
which will meet all my desires concerning my 
niece, at the same time that it will be doing no in- 
justice to my young relative.’^ 

^‘The plan seems ingeniously contrived. Sir 
William, to prevent future heart-burnings concern- 
ing the disposal of your estate; but were the young 
people to know nothing of the arrangement?’’ 

“ The knowledge of it was kept from them, at 
the suggestion of your late lamented husband, in 
order that they might imbibe no prejudices against 
the scheme as they grew up, but rather be thrown 
into each other’s way, as the time for its consum- 
mation approached, and thus perhaps discover its 
propriety themselves. This has' in part proved 
true, for on the very day of the unfortunate acci- 
dent which deprived your house of its inestimable 
head, I had the honour to lay Frank’s proposals 
before him.” 

‘^Sir William — I do not know my daughter’s 
sentiments on the subject, — the fulfilment of the^ 
scheme will depend entirely on her feelings.” 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


201 


‘‘With due deference, madam, would it notb& 
more politic to treat the matter as already, and 
long since settled, between her father and myself, 
and sacredly sealed by his death?’’ 

“ I must be plain and candid with your Excel- 
lency — I have no desire to use policy in the affair; 
if my daughter gives her free and hearty consent, 
you have mine ; but if the match is repugnant to 
her feelings we will drop the subject, with many^ 
thanks to your Excellency for your kind purposes, 
and to Mr. Beverly for the intended honoun” 

Virginia was now called in; but while the ser- 
vant performed that duty, Sir William replied, 
“ I am exceedingly mortified, madam, that you 
seem to place the fulfilment of this long-treasured 
scheme upon a contingency so light.” 

“ Do you then consider a young lady’s being 
permitted to have a voice in choosing her partner 
for life, a light contingency. Sir William?” 

“ I think, madam, that her parents are more 
capable of making a selection which will confer 
honour upon them and her, than she can possibly 
be. Our best families would soon arrive at a very 
plebeian level, were every female descendant to be 
permitted to indulge her love sick fancies, instead 
of consulting the interest and honour of her house. 
But it may be that this discussion is useless in the 
present instance. Here, madam, comes your daugh- 
ter, who will decide.” 

Virginia entered, pale and trembling with alarm 
and vague presentiments of evil; her hands were 


202 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


crossed upon her breast, and her eyes downcast. 
After making a reverential courtesy to the Gover- 
nor, she instinctively stood before him, awaiting 
his commands as one upon trial. However harsh 
the Governor’s opinions to the mother, policy 
dictated a very different course toward the daugh- 
ter; he accordingly led her to a seat beside him- 
self, and with the most bland and courteous man- 
ner, thus addressed her, 

I come, my niece, as an ambassador from poor 
Frank, with full powers to ask of your mother 
this fair hand in marriage; and I must take the 
same opportunity to declare the happiness it would 
give Lady Berkley and myself, to receive you into 
our mansion as the wife of our kinsman, and the 
daughter of our affections.” 

The mildness apd the unusual condescension of 
her formal uncle completely threw Virginia from 
the stately and unequivocal answer which she had 
meditated when first summoned; for it will be re- 
collected that she had already had an intimation 
of his intentions. She could do no less than feel 
grateful for his own undoubted affection, and she 
felt^ extremely difficult properly to express this 
feeling, connected as it must be with the over- 
throw of his dearest hopes. After the most painful 
embarrassment, she was enabled to answer: To 
you, my dear uncle, I have always felt grateful 
for the more than paternal affection which you 
have shown to me, and I must feel not less 
so for the motives which prompted you to 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


203 


undertake the present mission ; but with all my 
affection for yourself and desire to please you, and 
all my gratitude to Mr. Beverly for the honour 
which he intended me, I must beg leave to decline 
his offer.” 

“ Wherefore must you decline it, Virginia ?” 
asked Sir William, with the most evident chagrin 
and surprise. 

Simply because I cannot reciprocate the affec- 
tion which I am informed Mr. Beverly entertains 
for me.” 

“ Vou have never made the trial, niece; you 
have not taken five minutes to consider the im- 
portance of the proposition which I have had the 
honour to lay before you. Reconsider your hasty 
answer; take time to form a mature opinion of the 
many advantages which the connexion holds out. 
See Frank himself when he recovers, and my word 
for it, he will make as many love-sick speeches as 
would woo a lady from Charles’ court.” 

‘‘ It is not necessary, my dear uncle; I have long 
meditated upon the subject, having by accident 
heard of the proposed union before you were 
pleased to communicate it in person.” 

What is your objection to Frank ? It is cer- 
tainly no satisfactory answer, to say you cannot 
reciprocate his affection, when you have never 
yet given him an opportunity to plead his cause 
in person. He is unquestionably as well favoured 
a youth in regard to personal attributes, as any in 


204 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


the Colony, and I flatter myself as well born and 
of as bright expectations?” 

I have no objections to urge, Sir William; 
Mr, Beverly is undoubtedly all that you say he is, 
but he never can be more to me than he is at pre- 
sent; for this determination I have many reasons 
satisfactory to my ov/n sense of propriety, but 
which it is neither necessary nor proper for me to 
urge. One I will however give you, with the hope 
of for ever setting the question at rest. My aflec* 
tions are already engaged!” 

Had a thunderbolt hurled the old Cavalier from 
his seat, he could not have been more astounded. 
Mrs. Fairfax was scarcely less sov Sir William 
glanced from her countenance to that of her daugh- 
ter, as if he expected the former to overwhelm her 
daughter with reproaches, his own anger all the 
while displaying itself in the contortions of his in- 
flamed and glowing countenance. But seeing her 
astonishment subsiding into complacency instead 
of anger, his own broke forth — 

‘‘What! bestow your affections unasked? and 
upon whom pray!” 

“ I have not bestowed them unasked, Sir.” 

“Has any gentleman asked and obtained per- 
mission of you, to address your daughter?” he 
inquired, turning to Mrs. Fairfax, 

“None, Sir.” 

“ Who then is the favoured swain? Who has dar- 
ed to interfere in this matter unauthorized by the 


€AVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


205 


consent of your only surviving parent or my- 
self ?” 

‘‘ For him I have neither the right nor the will 
to speak. At the proper time he will doubtless 
do it for himself,’^ said Virginia, as she arose with 
offended dignity to leave the room. 

‘‘ Hear me yet a moment,’’ cried Sir William, 
with the most ill disguised efforts to appear calm. 
‘‘ If the person, who has thus intruded into your 
family, is of proper birth, connexions, and expecta- 
tions, and his suit should meet with your mother’s 
approbation, I of course have no right to interfere. 
But remember, should you attempt to form an alli- 
ance with an individual who would disgrace my fa- 
mily, to which you are nearly connected, I will, if 
there be none other to perform the office, with 
mine own hands tear him from the very foot of the 
altar, and mete to him such a reward as his te- 
merity demands.” 

At this moment the door opened, and Nathaniel 
Bacon entered, with an expression of unalloyed 
delight upon his countenance. He had just heard 
the joyful tidings from the medical attendant of 
his rival. He met Virginia face to face, just with- 
in the sweep of the door, and perceiving no other 
object at the moment, attempted gayly to seize 
her hand, but no corresponding movement being 
perceptible, he paused to examine her countenance, 
at the same time glancing at the offended visiter, 
whose scowling eyes were fixed upon him. Vir- 
ginia’s countenance was like a mirror to reflect her 

VoL. I. 18 


206 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


feelings, and had there been no intelligible expres-^ 
sion upon the face of the Governor, Bacon would 
readily have comprehended the attitude of the va- 
rious parties. These observations, however, were 
the work of an instant, for Sir William no sooner 
perceived his presence, than he sprung to his feet, 
his brow growing darker every moment. He 
had entirely misinterpreted Bacon’s appearance at 
that critical juncture. His suspicions had all along 
pointed to him, and he now imagined that his pre- 
sence was the result of preconcerted design. “To 
what motive. Sir,” he cried, “ am I inde])ted 
for this intrusion? Have you come to congratu- 
late me upon the recovery of my young kinsman, 
of whom your murderous hand had well nigh de- 
prived me?” 

Bacon wheeled partly upon his heel, as if en- 
deavouring to force himself out of the room, with- 
out answering the choleric old Cavalier, but seeing 
Virginia turn her head and east an indignant glance 
at the offender, his own hard schooled feelings 
broke forth also. “To no particular motive, Sir, 
are you indebted for this visit: it was the result of 
the purest accident. I knew not that your Ex- 
cellency was in the house, and came into this room 
in the ordinary free and unchallenged mode of in- 
tercoursey to which the inmates of this most hos- 
pitable and generous family are accustomed.” 

“Ay, Sir Stripling, and unless lam grossly 
deceived, your intercourse has not gone unchal- 
lenged for nothing.” 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


207 


To what is your Excellency pleased to allude.” 

“ Have you not studiously endeavoured to un- 
dermine the most important family arrangements 
of those who cherished and protected your infancy? 
Have you not stung the bosom that warmed you 
into existence ? Have you not been callous to the 
claims of gratitude, due alike to the living and the 
dead? Have you not attempted to beguile the 
only daughter of your patron into a disgraceful 
alliance?^^ 

Bacon resisted the mild and persuasive endea- 
vours of Mrs. Fairfax to lead him from the room, 
whence Virginia had already departed, while he 
replied, drawing himself up to an erect and per- 
fectly composed and dignified attitude, 

“ If your Excellency chooses so far to forget, 
what is alike due to your station — to yourself, to 
the present company, and to me, as to permit your- 
self to ask such questions, you cannot expect me 
80 far to forget myself as ta answer them!” and 
with this reply he left the room. 

The Governor, after indulging in the most ve- 
hement bursts of passion, and threats of vengeance 
against Bacon, should he dare to connect him- 
self with his family, and in vain endeavours to 
extort a promise from Mrs. Fairfax, never to give 
her consent, left the house in the most towering 
and ungovernable rage. 

He had scarcely crossed the threshold, before 
Bacon returned to the same room, leading Virginia 
by the hand, having held a very interesting con-~ 


208 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


versation with her in another apartment. Mrs*^ 
Fairfax was sitting apparently absorbed in the 
most painful reflections. As the youthful pair en- 
tered, a slight clearing away of the clouds which 
had gathered upon her countenance might be per- 
ceived. They walked deliberately up to where 
she sat, and seated themselves one on each side of 
her : when Bacon thus spoke — 

“ It was not my intention, dear madam, thus to 
intrude upon your sorrows, but I may be pardon- 
ed for presenting myself as a petitioner at your 
feet, when another, high in station and dignity^ 
has thought proper to forget those claims. Had he 
confined himself to the legitimate object ofhis mis- 
sion, I had perhaps still forborne, but when he has 
stepped out of his way rudely to thrust me before 
you as the disorganizer of your family arrange- 
ments, and as the serpent who has stolen into your 
house in order to poison your brightest hopes and 
fondest anticipations, I have thought it became me 
at once to state to you how far I have ofiended. 

It is true, dear madam, that I have not been in- 
sensible to the many charms of your daughter’s 
person and disposition. You have witnessed, I 
would fain hope, not unobse.rvantly, the dear de- 
lights of our first childish intercourse, when our 
minds and hearts were drawn together by an af- 
fection and a congeniality of taste and sentiment 
which we supposed, if we thought of it at all, was 
purely fraternal ; and then when our minds began to 
expand, and our aflections to assume and to display 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA- 


209 


their real character, and finally when we came 
thoroughly to understand each other and ourselves, 
you were not a heedless spectator of these pro- 
gressive changes and developments ; and having 
seen, I cannot believe that you would have per- 
mitted this mutual affection to grow to its present 
maturity and strength, intending to deny its sanc- 
tion at the last, when the cure might so easily have 
been made by nipping the tender flower in the 
bud. Speak, I pray you madam! Our fate hangs 
upon your words !” 

I will not pretend to you, my children, that I 
have not observed the mutual afiection which has 
grown up between you from its earliest dawn. 
Nor will I disguise from you that it gave me plea- 
sure mingled with much pain. Many long and 
dreary nights have I lain upon my pillow, antici- 
pating what I then supposed would be the fierce 
struggles of this moment. I calculated with the 
usual short sightedness of mortals, that he who 
will ne’er partake in our councils more, would have 
been here to decide upon your wishes. 

“ I supposed that his own family pride would first 
have been to conquer, then I thought of the fierce 
resistance which the greater pride of his kinsman. 
Sir William, would offer — the interview of this 
morning shows how truly. After all these pain- 
ful misgivings, however, and the maturest judg- 
ment that I could bestow upon the subject, I came 
to the resolution to suffer what seemed the predes- 
tined current of events to run its course. Provi- 
18 * 


210 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


dence has by a most painful process removed the 
only obstacle you had to fear, my children, and 
he, had he been alive, would doubtless have finally 
given his consent rather than attempt to tear up 
forcibly by its roots a passion like yours, the 
growth of years and intimate knowledge of each 
other. I therefore give you my consent, my chil- 
dren, that you be united in marriage, and the sooner 
the better, as the first storm upon its announcement 
once over, all these contending passions which drive 
you into broils and strife will cease.” 

As she concluded speaking, Virginia, down 
whose cheeks the tears had been rapidly coursing 
each other, sunk upon her knees, in which position 
she was instantly joined by her now acknowledged 
and betrothed lover. Mrs. Fairfax placed her 
hands upon their heads, tears bedimming her own 
eyes, and blessed them, and then kissed her daugh- 
ter as she was about to leave the room. When she 
was gone. Bacon resumed the subject of their dis- 
course. ‘‘ 0 say, dear Madam, how soon will you 
consent to the completion of our happiness ? I ad- 
dress myself to you in the first instance, in order 
that I may use your name in my appeal to your 
daughter for an early day.” 

“ As soon as you can persuade Virginia to con- 
sent. I would seriously and earnestly recommend 
two things with regard to your nuptials, the rest I 
leave to yourselves, namely, that they take place 
as privately as possible, for fear of Sir William’s 
violence; and secondly, as soon as possible, in or- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


211 


der that you may anticipate the complete recovery 
of young Mr. Beverly.” 

‘^Oh, madam, may Heaven bless your wisdem 
and benevolence. I am now doubly armed, and 
will seek your daughter, and I hope soon return 
with a favourable answer.’’ 

Accordingly he flew out of the room, and in a 
few moments she heard him loudly calling her 
daughter’s name through all the portals of the 
house, and rapping at every door, but no Virginia 
was to be found. At length, however, he sallied 
forth into the garden, when he found her in her 
summer-house, apparently in profound study of 
some favourite Author’s new publication, perhaps 
Milton’s ‘‘ Paradise Regained.” His arguments 
fell apparently upon a deaf ear. She continued 
to read, regardless of his passionate gesticulations 
and burning words. Her cheeks glowed vividly 
enough, but she gave no other evidence that she 
was conscious of his presence. At length he 
seized her hand, and forcibly but gently led her 
before her mother, like a culprit, as she doubt- 
less felt herself, for her eyes were downcast, and 
a crimson blush suffused her neck and temples. 
Mrs. Fairfax attempted in vain to assume a grave 
and judicial expression. She succeeded, however, 
in convincing the young pair that the safety and 
the peace of many of their family circle depended 
upon their speedy nuptials. It was doubtless for 
these reasons alone, that they soon agreed amicably 


212 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


upon an early day, until which time we will leave 
the imagination of the reader to follow the young 
pair through flowery beds of roses and tulips, and 
the more flowery anticipations of I^ove’s young 
dream 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


213 


f 


CHAPTER XVI. 


The appointed day at length arrived^ — it was 
ushered in by no cheering omens from without or 
within the mansion of Mrs. Fairfax. No warbling 
songsters from the feathered tribes perched upon 
the window of our heroine, or hopped from flow- 
er to flower through the gra'den beneath, to woo 
her from her slumbers; and the heavens themselves 
gave lowering and sultry evidence of an approach- 
ing storm. In the east it was misty and unsettled; 
while a long curtain of dark frowning clouds, 
heavily charged with electric fire, hung in por- 
tentous masses along the whole line of the western 
horizon. The atmosphere was hot and oppressive, 
the whole aspect of the weather such as invariably 
casts a damp upon the spirits. 

Virginia required no sweet serenade to call 
her from her slumbers. She was already awake, 
as indeed she had been through most of the night. 
A feverish dread of undefined approaching evil, 
had dimly floated through her excited brain during 
her waking hours, and yet more shadowy horrors 
disturbed her partial and unrefreshing sleep. Her 
morning habiliments were donned earlier than 
usual, without the assistance of her Indian attend- 


214 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


ant ; yet she marvelled at her unwonted absence. 
She usually slept in an adjoining apartment, and 
hither Virginia bent her steps to chide the tardy 
maiden for her strange neglect on so important an 
occasion. No little surprise was visible in her 
countenance, when she found not only the apart- 
ment untenanted, but that the bed upon which 
Wyanokee usually slept, was undisturbed, or that 
if used at all, it had been slightly disarranged, only 
as if with a deceptive purpose. She repeated her 
name throughout the house and garden, but no an- 
swer was returned. Her voice soon aroused her 
mother, who was no less surprised at the circum- 
stances related by her daughter. Together they 
went to the apartment, and again examined the 
bed, which had evidently not been slept in. And 
now other appearances struck them, which had 
not before attracted their attention. The dress 
she had worn on the previous day, hung in a closet 
answering the purposes of a wardrobe, together 
with the whole of her apparel, the gift of Virginia 
or her mother. Not an article could be recollected 
of these, which was not there. They seemed, 
moreover, to have been studiously arranged so 
as to attract attention in this particular. On 
the other hand, every garment of Indian fabric 
which she had preserved through her captivity, 
was gone. The moccasins she had worn on the 
previous day — the Indian beads, wampum, and 
other ornaments of native origin, were nowhere 
to be seen. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


215 


All the gifts of Bacon and Mr. Fairfax, some of 
which were of gold and silver, were conspicuously 
arranged upon a shelf in the same apartment. 
Many of these she had hitherto constantly worn 
in her ears, and upon her wrists and ankles. 

As they were pursuing their researches Vir- 
ginia discovered the window of the room in which 
her attendant had always slept, shut down upon 
the end of an Indian arrow. She raised the sash 
and drew in the missile, in the end of which, in- 
serted in a split and bound with a strip of the fibre 
of a sinew. Was the identical blue feather Wyanokee 
had plucked from the gory locks of the slain King 
Fisher, the last of the Chickahominy chiefs. The 
arrow was pointed in the direction of the nation’s 
hunting ground. The language of these symbols 
Virginia understood but too well ; she had too 
long made Wyanokee a subject of study, as well as 
of instruction, not to understand that the feather 
indicated her flight to the dwellings of her tribe. 
She also thought she saw many collateral indica- 
tions in the time chosen for her elopement — the 
arrangements of her English garments, and more 
especially of the gifts she had received from Ba- 
con. She doubted not in her own mind that the 
resolution of Wyanokee was in some way connect- 
ed with the approaching ceremony, but she did not 
communicate her suspicions to her mother, because 
they were as yet not clearly defined in her own 
thoughts. They received momentary corrobora- 
tion however, as many circumstances recurred to 


2\6 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


her mind, which were trivial in themselves, but 
important in connexion with the present disco- 
very, and which have been from time to time 
hinted at in the progress of our narrative. 

The impression left upon the mind of our Hero- 
ine by these incidents produced any thing but the 
joyous, elastic and happy mood, her young dreams 
had always anticipated for her wedding day. There 
were many other subjects of apprehension to mar 
the pleasures of the time. Governor Berkley had 
left her mother’s house overflowing with wrath, 
and threatening speedy vengeance against her be- 
trothed. 

Few persons ever became indebted to Sir Wil- 
liam Berkley in a matter of personal hatred or ill 
will, who did not sooner or later find him a hard 
and exacting creditor. With all her love for her 
uncle she knew his harsh and unyielding nature, 
and dreaded his power. 

The natural apprehensions of a modest, gentle, 
and tenderly educated maiden on her wedding day, 
are at all times sufficiently powerful of themselves ; 
but joined to the unfavourable omens and sources 
of anxiety by which Virginia was surrounded, 
they were overpowering. Her breakfast remained 
before her untouched, notwithstanding her mo- 
ther’s endeavours to cheer her drooping spirits. 

A short and animated conversation with her 
lover, as the day began to wane, partially recalled 
her wonted cheerfulness, but when he was gon^ 
she relapsed into her former mood. The aspect 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 217 

of the heavens seemed to her to grow momenta- 
rily more portentous. Already the thunder was 
heard rolling in the west, and black masses of 
threatening clouds were gradually closing in from 
every point of the horizon. The wrath of Heaven 
itself seemed to our heroine gathering over the 
city. This nervous excitement of mind will not 
be wondered at when it is remembered that a short 
time only had intervened since dark and mysteri- 
ous injunctions had been urged against the marriage, 
of which the appointed time was now s,o near at 
hand; and to this must be added the state of alarm 
and agitation in which she had since been kept by 
insurrections, outrages, personal strifes and deadly 
feuds between her friends ; and above all, by the 
violent and sudden death of her father. In the 
short space of a few weeks her once tranquil and 
happy existence had been changed into one of pain- 
ful trials and vicissitudes. The night was rapidly 
closing in. There hung the bridah garments, and 
there stood the tire woman waiting her commands. 
At this juncture a carriage drove up to the door, 
steps were let down, the knocker sounded, and in 
the next moment the gay brides-maid bounded into 
the room, arrayed for the , occasion. Her coun- 
tenance \Vas radiant with smiles as she entered, but 
perceiving her friend’s sombre mood she walked 
round her sundry times and then raised her harids 
and eyes in pretended astonishment, as she exclaim- 
ed, DoT mistake! Was it indeed to your wed- 
ding that 1 was invited ? Fof shame, Virginia! 
VoL. I. 19 


218 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


shake off these sickly fancies. Come, rouse your- 
self, and I will be your tire woman. Giir family 
will soon be here, the carriage has gone back for 
them. Will that not move you ? Then your law- 
ful lord and” — 

Here Virginia rose and placed her band upon 
the lips of the lively girl, yet with a look which 
seemed at the same tim6 to intimate no unwilling- 
ness to be cajoled or rallied from her present se-' 
rious humour. 

The wedding was to be kept a profound secret 
from all but the invited guests, and those who 
were to officiate at the cerem 9 ny. The former 
consisted only of Mr, Harrison’s family, and the 
latter of the clergyman of the Established Churchy 
who officiated at Jamestown — Charles Dudley who 
was to give away the bride, and Harriet as brides- 
maid. 

The appointed hour of nine at length arrived. 
Assembled in the parlour below, the various par- 
ties awaited the appearance of the bride. Car- 
riages were already at the doorj the chapel light- 
ed, and the priest habited in the robes of his sa- 
cred office. 

Bacon, after sundry movements towards the 
door at which she was expected to enter, could 
subdue his impatience no longer, and at once mount- 
ed the staircase. He met the two maidens on 
their jivay down; Virginia apparently having im- 
bibed some of her friend’s spirit and vivacity, 
which she so much needed. She placed her hand 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


219 


timidly but confidingly in that of Bacon as they 
entered the room. Both she, and her attendant, 
were robed in virgin white — and certainly never 
were dresses more appropriate ;_tbey were both 
young, innocent, beautiful, and intensely’ interest- 
ing, in the position which they now occupied. 

Bacon and Dudley were dressed exactly alike, 
and rather in the costume of the preceding, than 
of the present reign ; the latter not yet having 
made its way to Jamestown. They wore doublets 
of scarlet velvet, with large loose sleeves slashed 
up the front ; the collar covered by a falling band 
of the richest point lace, with a Vandyke edging. 
Their breeches were of white silk, and fringed at. 
the bottom, where they united with their silk 
stockings, amidst a profusion of ribands and orna- 
ments of lace. Their shoes were ornamented 
over the buckle straps, with white bridal roses 
wrought in silk. Hanging gallantly upon one 
shoulder, they wore the short and graceful blue 
cloak of the period : not in such a manner, how- 
ever, as to conceal in any degree the gay ap- 
pearance of the costume which it completed, but 
so as to be thrown aside and resumed at a moment’s 
notice. This latter article being light and graceful, 
and worn more for ornament than use, was always 
thrown aside for the military buff coat on war- 
like occasions. 

The party, preceded by the priest, entered the 
waiting vehicles. Just as they were seated ac- 
cording to the order of previous arrangement. 


220 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


vivid flash of lightning shot athwart the horizon, 
succeeded by a crash of thunder loud and fearful, 
as if the eternal hills themselves had again been 
shattered into chaos. The females drew them- 
selves into the corners of the carriage, covering 
their eyes, and the gentlemen were silent, while 
the God of the Universe, spoke through his thun- 
ders. 

The drive to the church was as short as it was 
silent. The priest entered his desk and laid open 
the sacred volume, vvhile the various parties arrang- 
ed according to order in a semicirc}e round the 
altar, waited upon his words. 

The chapel was dimly lighted, except imme- 
diately around the parties, in accordance with the 
strict privacy of the celebration. Mrs. Fairfax 
was as calm and benignant as was consistent with 
her usual settled melancholy. Virginia was pale 
as a marble statue, her head just sufiiciently in- 
clined forward to suspend her bridal veil in grace- 
ful and flowing folds before her exquisitely form^ 
ed figure. Harriet’s vivacity was subdued to re- 
spectful and mute attention. The sound of the 
clergyman’s voice could just be heard at intervals. 
bet\veen the awful peals of thunder, while the lu- 
rid flashes contrasting with the feeble rays of the 
lamps, rendered the surrounding gloom more im- 
pressive. The words which fell from the lips of 
the sacred functionary were something like the 
following: 

Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


221 


in the sight of God, and in the face of this com- 
pany, to join together this Man and this Woman 
in holy matrimony; which is an honourable estate 
instituted of God in the time of man’s innocency, 
signifying unto us the mystical union that is be- 
twixt Christ and his church; which holy estate 
Christ adorned and beautified with his presence and 
first miracle that he wrought in Cana of Galilee; 
and is commended of Saint Paul to be honourable 
among all men; and therefore is not by any to be 
enterprised or taken in hand unadvisedly — light- 
ly, or wantonly — to satisfy men’s carnal lusts and 
appetites, like brute beasts that have no under- 
standing; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, so- 
berly, and in fear of God, duly considering the 
causes for which matrimony was ordained. 

‘‘ First, it was ordained for the procreation of 
children to be brought up in the fear and nurture 
of the Lord, and to the praise of his holy name. I 

‘‘Secondly, it was ordained for a remedy against 
sin, and to avoid fornication, that such persons as 
have not the gift of continency might marry and 
keep themselves undefiled members of Christ’s 
body. 

“Thirdly, it was ordained for the mutual society, 
help, and comfort that the one ought to have of 
the other — both in prosperity and adversity. 

“ Into which holy estate, these two persons pre- 
sent come now to be joined. Therefore if any man 
can show any just cause, why they may not law- 
19 ^ 


N 


222 CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 

fully be joined together, let him now speak, or else 
hereafter for ever hold his peace.” 

A solemn silence prevailed through the dimly 
lighted aisles, as the usual pause was allowed for 
the answer. At this juncture, and while the small 
party around the altar held their breath in mute 
astonishment and wonder, the door was rudely 
thrust open, and a gigantic figure strode down the 
hollow sounding aisle. His heavy footfalls rung 
upon Virginia’s sensitive organs like the funeral 
knell of departed peace. He walked directly to- 
* wards the altar, until he stood immediately behind 
the youthful pair about to plight their faith, his 
tall figure towering far above their heads.* Over 
his face he held a black mask, as he thus spoke, in 
answer to the general challenge of the priest. 

Well mayest thou say that now or never is the 
time to speak the just cause which interposes to 
prevent the consummation of this union. That 
cause know I! But its revelation, now rendered 
imperative, will be like unto tearing up with 
irreverent hands the mysterious secrets of the 
charnel house beneath our feet. Oh God, why 
could not this duty have been spared to me!” 

His huge frame shuddered with convulsive emo- 
tion as he paused and seemed to view from be- 
neath his mask his astounded and breathless audi- 

* The reader will perceive wheil the proper titnecoraes for 
disclo^ng from what authpntic annals this character is taken— that 
we have but described his person as the grave words of History- 
portrayed him. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


222 


tors. The clergyman seized the opportunity to 
repeat with solemnity the challenge. ‘‘ If any 
man can show any just cause why this yonthful pair 
may not lawfully be joined together, let him now 
speak, or else hereafter for ever hold his peace!’’ 

“They cannot lawfully be joined together be- 
cause they are the children of the same mother!” 

The silence of death prevailed throughout the 
chapel. Respiration and reflection itself seemed 
suspended upon the awful announcement of the Re- 
cluse, while he fell back upon one of the seats of 
the aisle and covered his face with his hands in 
unutterable anguish, 

Mrs. Fairfax had been visibly agitated, from the 
first moment of this startling interruption, by some 
more dreadful emotion than the surprise and vague 
alarm of those about her, but now desperation it- 
self nerved her sinking, powers, as she stepped a 
pace forward and uttered in a distinct voice. “ ft 
is false! proceed with the ceremony.” Har- 
rison and Dudley instinctively felt for their arms, 
the former exclaiming, ‘‘ He is mad — staring mad! 
be it our business to prevent this irreverent inter- 
ruption!” 

But the Recluse immediately sprung upon his 
feet, throwing his mask upon the floor as he stood 
full in front of Mrs. Fairfax, and exclaimed, point- 
ing with his index finger to his time-worn coun- 
tenance ; “Look thou upon these long forgotten 
lineaments, and then upon these (laying his hand 
upon Bacon’s head) and testify before Heaven and 


224 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


earth whether I have not spoken truth! a fearful 
truth!” 

The person appealed to stood for some moments 
like a statue, her eyes protruding from their sock- 
ets, as if a tenant of the grave indeed stood before 
her — her hand at length slowly rose from her side 
and wandered through the vacant air as if she 
would have submitted the spectre to the test of 
feeling — imperfectly measuring the distance how- 
ever between her own person and the object sought, 
it fell again powerless by her side. Her lips mov- 
ed as if she were in the act of holding a conversa- 
tion with the being who had addressed her, but no 
sound issued from them. The pupils of her eyes 
were painfully distended, and their whole expres- 
sion wild and bewildered. At length her chest 
began to heave convulsively, when she made a 
wild and desperate effort to rush upon the object 
of her gaze, but fell prostrate on the floor before 
she had attained half the distance between them. 
As she fell she cried in the most piteous accents, 
‘‘ Charles! Charles!” and then swooned away. 

Charles Dudley, who had till now assisted Bacon 
in supporting his fainting bride, resigned his charge 
to Mr. Harrison and ran to Mrs. Fairfax, supposing 
himself to be the person thus piteously apostro- 
phized. He took the fallen lady in his arms and 
raised her partly from the floor, but no symptoms 
of returning animation were visible. While he 
thus supported her head upon one knee, kneeling 
upon the other, assisted by the clergyman and 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


225 


friends, and Bacon and Mr. Harrison supporting 
Virginia, who was in little better condition, a tu- 
multuous crowd rushed in at the door, headed by 
Sir William Berkley himself, exclaiming to his 
minions, “ Tear him from the altar ! tear the 
upstart from the altar.’’ 

But as he ran with his drawn sword towards 
the pulpit, something in the attitude and expres- 
sion of the various parties at once arrested his 
hand and voice. 

There is a power of expression in deep and ir- 
remediable sorrow which cannot be looked upon 
without emotion. Boisterous and outrageous as Sir 
William Berkley had entered the chapel, his fierce 
nature was instantly subdued by the appearance of 
his sister-in-law and her daughter. The crowd 
which followed were instinctively awed into si- 
lence by the same powerful and speaking appeals. 

When the announcement of the lawful cause 
which prevented the consummation of the union 
first fell upon Bacon’s ear, his head sank upon his 
breast, and although he mechanically clasped Vir- 
ginia round the waist, as he felt her clinging to 
him, and sinking at his side; he stood stupified 
with horror, holding up his lifeless burden, entire- 
ly enable to think or act. His habitual and super- 
stitious reverence for every thing uttered by the 
Recluse, induced him to receive the first impres- 
sion of his words unchallenged even in his own 
mind. 

By the time that Sir William Berkley and his 


226 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


party arrived, the Recluse had disappeared; every 
one was so much absorbed by the instant and 
pressing calls for assistance and sympathy from 
the suffering females, that the time of his departure 
was entirely unnoticed. 

The Governor had no sooner recovered from 
his first shock and surprise, than he made his way 
to one of the young Harrisons to learn the cause 
of the present appearance of the parties, so differ- 
ent from what he had been taught to expect. Al- 
though he did not believe that there was one 
word of truth in the cause assigned for the inter- 
ruption of the ceremony, he was well enough 
satisfied that the parties themselves, and Mrs. 
Fairfax should believe it. No matter to him what 
horrors they suffered, he considered it all but a 
just punishment for their attempted mesalliance. 
As for Bacon, and his horror-stricken feelings. 
Sir William did not deign to bestow a jthought 
or word upon them, after the first hasty exclama- 
tion with which he had entered the door. By 
his orders, the female sufferers were placed in a 
carriage, and removed to his own house. Bacon 
resigned his charge with a listless apathy, border- 
ing on stupefaction, and to a superficial observer, 
such would doubtless have been the impression; 
but his was the deadly deceitful calm which pre- 
cedes the coming storm. The most horrible of 
all human sufferings is that where no tear is or can 
be shed — where no enemy presents himself for 
vengeance — no hope for the future, all having 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


227 


been perilled and lost upon a single throw. Bacon 
felt himself thus situated— the cherished hopes of a 
lifetime Were blasted in an instant, not only for the 
present, but under such circumstances as to cut off 
all hope for the future. The object of his passion 
could not henceforth be enshrined in a holy secret 
worship of the soul, such as is sometimes kept up 
through a long life of celibacy for the lost one. 

No mortified pride arose to his relief ! he could 
not hate — he dared not love the object around 
which his whole heart and soul were entwined. 
The very light of his eyes — ^the sun of his ex- 
istence — his delights of the present — ‘hopes of the 
future — all, all were blotted from existence in a 
moment. The very retrospects of the past were 
poisoned. Could he bear to dwell upon the en- 
rapturing delights of their young loves, when 
the object and participator was now discovered to 
be his own sister? To whichever aspect of the 
case he turned, he as speedily revolted in horror. 
It was while these things were tearing and rack- 
ing his soul, that he appeared to feel externally 
less than might have been expected. His mind 
and feelings were precipitately rolled back upon 
their own resources, and the suddenly dammed 
up waters of bitterness sought vent at every ave- 
nue. Virginia was no sooner taken from him, 
however, than his perceptions seemed roused at 
once to the full horror and hopelessness of his 
fate. Without his castor, and still decked in his gay 
bridal attire, he burst from the crowd, prostrating 


228 CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 

the Governor’s minions to the right and left, as he 
felled a passage to the door. His eye had lost its 
abstracted expression; it was deadly fierce and 
terrifically wild as he rushed forth into the kindred 
storm without — no one knew whither. 


END OF VOLUME FIRST. 



i 


THE 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA,. 


OR THE 


RECLUSE OF JAMESTOWN. 


AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE OF THE OLD DOMINION. 



BY THE AUTHOR OF 


“THE KENTUCKIAN IN NEW-YORK.” 



IN TWO VOLUMES. 

VOL.. IL 

NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, 

NO. 82 CLIFF-STREET, 


AND SOLD BY THE PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLERS THROUGHOUT 


THE UNITED STATES. 


1835 


( ' . 

4 


M 4 ^ \ 




« 


' . $ 
4 


f 



• • 


« 


/ 





r 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1834, by Harpek 
& Brothers, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the Southern District 
of New-York, 



1 






/ 


% 





CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 



CHAPTER I. 

The lightning streamed athwart the heavens 
in quick and vivid flashes. One peal of thunder 
after another echoed from cliff to . cliff, while a 
driving storm of rain, wind and hail, made the 
face of nature black and dismal. There was some- 
thing frightfully congenial in this uproar of the 
contending elements with the storm raging in Ba- 
con’s heart, as he rushed from the scene of the 
catastrophe we have just witnessed. The dark- 
ness which succeeded the lurid and sulphureous 
flashes was not more complete and unfathoma- 
ble than the black despair of his own soul. 
These vivid contrasts of light and gloom were 
the only stimulants of which he was susceptible, 
and they were welcomed as the light of his path! 
By their guidance he wildly rushed to his stable, 
saddled, led forth, and mounted his noble charger, 
his own head still uncovered. For once the gaR 


4 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


lant animal felt himself uncontrolled master of hig? 
movements, fleet as the wind his nimble heel& 
measured the narrow limits of the island. A sud- 
den glare of intense light served for an instant to 
reveal both to horse and rider that they stood upon 
the brink of the river, and a single indication of the 
rider’s will was followed by a plunge into the 
troubled waves. Nobly and majestically he rose 
and sank with the swelling surges. His master 
sat erect in the saddle and felt his benumbed facul- 
ties revived, as he communed with the storm. 
The raging elements appeared to sympathize wdth 
the tumult of his own bosom. He laughed in hor- 
rid unison with the gambols of the lightning, and 
yelled with savage delight as the muttering thun- 
der rolled over his head. 

There is a sublime stimulus in despair. Bacon 
felt its power; he was conscious that one of the 
first laws of our organization, (self-preservation,) 
was suddenly dead within him. 

The ballast of the frail vessel was thrown over- 
board, and the sails were spread to the gathering 
storm with reckless desperation. Compass and 
rudder were alike abandoned and despised — they 
were for the use of those who had hopes and fears. 
For himself he spread his sails and steered his 
course with the very spirit of tire storm itself. Na- 
ture in her wildest moods has no terrors for those 
who have nothing to lose or win ; no terrors for 
them w'ho laugh and play with the very elements 
of her destruction; they are wildly, madly inde- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 




pendent. It is the sublimity of the maniac! Ne- 
vertheless there is a fascination in his reckless steps 
as he threads the narrow and fearful windings of 
the precipice, or carelessly buffets the waves of 
the raging waters. There are other sensations of 
a high and lofty character in this disjointed state 
of the faculties. The very ease and rapidity with 
which ordinary dangers are surmounted, serves to 
keep up the delusion, and were it not for the irre- 
sponsible condition of the mind, there would doubt- 
less be impiety in its developments. Such were Ba- 
con’s sensations as he wildly stemmed the torrent. 
He imagined that he was absolved from the ordi- 
nary responsibilities and hazards of humanity ! and 
to his excited fancy,, it seemed as though petty 
fears and grovelling cautions were all that lay be- 
tween humanity and the superior creations of the 
universe! that power also came with this absolu- 
tion from the hopes, fears and penalties of man’s 
low estate. In imagination he rode upon the 
storm and managed the whirlwind.” The mon- 
sters of the deep were his playmates, fhe ill-omen- 
ed birds of the night his fellows. The wolves 
howled in dreadful concord with the morbid ef- 
forts of his preternaturally distorted faculties, as 
the noble and panting animal first struck the shore 
with his forefeet. 

Emerging from the water, he stroked down the 
dripping mane with a wild and melancholy affec- 
tion. The very consciousness of such a feeling 
yet remaining in his soul, which he dared indulge, 
1 * 


6 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


produced for the momenta dangerous and kindred 
train of emotions. These as before led him upon 
forbidden ground, and again the wild tumult af 
his soul revived. Striking his heels into the ani- 
mal’s flanks, and bending upon his neck, he urged 
him over the ground at a pace in unison with the 
impetuosity of his own feelings. 

The fire and gravel flew from his heels, as he 
bounded through the trackless forests of the un- 
subdued wilderness. The frightened birds of night, 
and beasts of prey, started in afiright, wild at the ap- 
pearance upon the scene of one darker and wild- 
er than themselves. The very reptiles of the earth 
shrunk to their hiding places, as the wild horseman 
and his steed invaded their prescriptive dominions. 

Mrs. Fairfax and her daughter, according to 
the commands of Sir William Berkley, were con- 
veyed to his mansion. To them all places were 
now alike. The mother after a long and death-like 
trance, revived to a breathing and physical exist- 
ence; but her mind was overrun, with horrors. 
Reason was dethroned, and her lips gave utter- 
ance to the wildest fantasies. Events with which, 
and persons with whom, none of those about her 
were conversant, were alluded to in all the inco- 
herency and unbridled impetuosity of the maniac. 
The depletion and anodynes of the physician were 
administered in vain. The ravages upon the seat 
of nervous power had rendered the ordinary reme- 
dies to the more distant chords of communication 
utterly powerless. From a mild, bland,, feeble and 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


7 


sickly state of melancholy, she was suddenly trans- 
formed into a frenzied lunatic. Her muscular 
power seemed to have received multiplied acces- 
sions of strength. Yet there was a method in her 
madness” — the same names and scenes frequent- 
ly recurred in her raving paroxysms. That of 
Charles was reiterated through the wild intona- 
tions of delusion; sometimes madly and revenge- 
fully, but more frequently in sorrow. 

There was occasionally a moving and touching pa- 
thos in these latter demonstrations — tearless it is 
true, but thrilling and electrifying in the subdued 
whisper in which they were sometimes uttered. A 
flood of pent up emotions was poured forth with 
a thrilling eloquence which had their origin in the 
foundations of the soul. Scenes of days long past, 
were revived with a graphic and affecting power, 
which imagination cannot give if their myste^ 
rious source and receptacle be not previously and 
abundantly stored with the richest treasures of the 
female heart and mind. 

Because the by-standers do not happen to be in 
possession of all the previous history of the suf- 
ferer, so as to put together these melancholy and 
bi'oken relics, they are generally supposed to be 
the creations of a distempered fancy. 

So it was with Mrs. Fairfax; her detached re- 
miniscences fell upon the dull and uninstructed 
ears of her attendants as the wildest hallucinations 
of the brain, yet there was more connexion in these 


8 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


flights than they imagined. They supposed that 
she thought herself conversing in her most subdu- 
ed and touching moments with young Dudley, 
merely because his name was frequently pronounc- 
ed, and that he happened to be present at the dis- 
astrous ceremony, which resulted so dreadfully to 
all parties. 

Among all these, Virginia’s was the hardest lot 
— so delicately and exquisitely organized, so gen- 
tle — so susceptible — so full of enthusiasm — so rich 
in innocence and hope, and all so suddenly pros- 
trated. Bacon was nerved with the wild yet ex- 
alted heroism of manhood in despair. Her mo- 
ther was wrapt in a blessed oblivion of the present, , 
but she was sensitively and exquisitely alive to the 
past, present and future. One fainting paroxysm 
succeeded to another in frightful rapidity, for hours 
after she was removed to her uncle’s house. 

The painful intervals were filled up with a con-: 
centration of wretched reflections, which none but 
a finely organized and cultivated female mind 
could conceive or endure. No proper conception 
of these can be conveyed in language, unless the 
reader will suffer his imagination to grasp her 
whole condition at once. — Beginning at the first 
inception of the unsuspected passion for the noble 
youth who is the hero of our tale — in her earliest) 
infancy; and afterwards following her as it matur- 
ed and strengthened by the reflections of riper 
years. Every faculty, both perceptive and intel-. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


9 


lectual, had combined to impress his image in the 
most indelible colours upon her heart. He had 
himself ripened these very faculties into maturity 
by the most assiduous culture, and won her esteem 
by the most touching, delicate, and respectful at- 
tentions. 

All these things in detail were painfully revolv- 
ed in her mind. Every landscape, every book, 
every subject, reminded her most forcibly of him 
whom it was now criminal to think of. Her’s 
was the sorrow that no sympathy could soften, no 
friendship alleviate. The sight of her intimate 
and confidential friend drove her mad, for her 
presence instantly revived the horrid recollections 
of the chapel. Long after the clouds had cleared 
away, the thunder still roared in her ears. The 
sudden slamming of a door sounded to her nervous 
irritability, like the report of a cannon. Her own 
shadow conjured up horrible images. The most 
violent and the most acute paroxysms of the hu- 
man organization, however, have a tendency to 
wear themselves out, when left uninterruptedly to 
their own action. Such was necessarily, in some 
measure, the case with Virginia; her mother’s 
more alarming condition calling so much more 
loudly for attention, and Wyanokee having fled, 
and Harriet’s presence proving so evidently hurt- 
ful, she was consequently left with a single sable 
domestic. Essentially she was in profound soli- 
tude; and after the first paroxysms which we have 
described, her mind naturally and irresistibly fell 


10 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


into a train of retrospective thought. Startling 
and horrifying they certainly were at first, but 
still the mind clung to them. Many of the cir- 
cumstances of the late disastrous meeting were 
to. her as yet unexplained. To these she clung as 
to the last remhantsof hope; they were the straws 
at which she grasped with the desperation of the 
drowning wretch. She had at first received her 
mother’s tacit acknowledgment of the mysterious 
stranger’s statement, or rather the effect produced 
by that statement as irresistible confirmation of 
its truth. But now she doubted the propriety of 
her hasty conviction. She marvelled at the effect 
produced upon her mother — yet there were other 
means of accounting for it. Would she not have 
exhibited a like sensibility, had a like statement 
been made, however false, under such circum- 
stances? — did she not deny it, positively deny it 
at the moment ? Such was -the train of reasoning 
by which her mind began to reassure itself; and 
it must be recollected that she had never heard 
more of her mother’s history, than that she was' a 
childless widow when her father married her. 
SufScient was left however of first impressions to 
render her situation one of' intense suffering and 
suspense. She dared not ask for Bacon, yet a 
restless and gnawing anxiety possessed her, to 
know whether he acknowledged the truth of the 
dreadful tale without a murmur, and without in- 
vestigation. But her physical organization could 
not keep pace with the ever elastic mind ; her gen- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


11 


tie frame gave sensible evidence that the late violent 
shocks had made sad inroads upon her system. One 
chill was succeeded by another, until they were in 
their turn followed by a burning fever. In this con- 
dition she fell again into the hands of the physician, 
and all mental distress was soon lost in the para- 
mount demands of the suffering body. 

Toward the hour of midnight, the storm sub- 
sided. Fragments of the black purtain which had 
hung over the face of the heavens, shot up from 
the eastern horizon in stupendous blue masses, 
every now and then illuminated to their summits 
with the reflection of the raging elements beyond. 
The violence of the conflict in Bacon’s breast had 
also subsided. He rode along the banks of the 
Chickahominy, his charger dripping with wet and 
panting with the exhaustion of fatigue. The bridle 
hung loose upon his neck, and his rider bent over 
his mane like a worn-out soldier. His own locks 
had unbent their stubborn curls to the driving 
storm, and hung about his neck in drooping mass- 
es. His silken hose were spattered with mud, 
and his gay bridal dress hung about his person in 
lank and dripping folds. His horse had for some 
time followed the bent of his own humour, and 
was now leading his master in the neighbourhood 
of human habitations. The boughs of the tall 
gloomy pines were fantastically illuminated with 
broad masses of light, which ever and anon burst 
from the smouldering remnants of a huge pine log 
fire. Its immediate precincts were surrounded by 


12 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


some fifty or more round matted huts, converg- 
ing toward the summit like a gothic steeple. 
Around the fire, and under a rude shelter, lay 
some hundred warriors, wrapped in profound 
slumber while one of their tribe stood sentinel 
over the camp. 

When Bacon had approached within a short 
distance of this picturesque group, the sentinel 
sprung upon his feet, and uttered a shrill war- 
whoop. The horse stood still, erected his neck 
and pricked up his ears, while his master folded 
his arms upon his breast and calmly surveyed the 
scene. Thqse warriors who slept under the sheds 
near the fire, assumed the erect attitude with a 
simultaneous movement, joining in the wild cho^- 
rus of the sentinel’s yell as they arose. 

Hundreds of men, women, and children poured 
from the surrounding huts, — most of the grown 
males, with their faces painted in blue and red 
stripes, their heads shaved close to the cranium, 
except a tuft of hair upon the crown, and all arm- 
ed in readiness for battle. Bacon assumed the 
command of his horse and rode into the very cen- 
tre of this wild congregation, — the fore hoofs rest- 
ing upon the spent embers of the fire. 

He was greeted with another yell, after which 
the savages stood back and viewed his strange and 
untimely appearance with wonder not unmixed 
with awe. His bridle again fell from his hand, 
and his arms were crossed upon his breast. His 
countenance was wild and haggard, and a flash of 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


13 


maniacal enthusiasm shot athwart his pale features. 
His dress under present circumstances was fantas- 
tical in the extreme. 

A grim old warrior with savage aspect after star- 
ing some time intensely at the intruder, was sud- 
denly struck with something in his appearance, 
and stepping out a few paces from the mass of his 
companions began to address them in his own lan- 
guage, now and then pointing to the horseman, and 
using the most violent gesticulations. At another 
time the youth would have been not a little alarm- 
ed at certain significant signs which the speaker 
used when pointing to himself. These consisted 
in twirling his war club round and round, as if he 
was engaged in the most deadly conflict. Then 
he placed his hand to the side of his head and bent 
it near the earth as if about to prostrate himself, 
and finally pointing to Bacon. When he had done 
this, several of the crowd closed in toward his 
horse, and seemed intensely to examine the linea- 
ments of his countenance. Having satisfied them- 
selves, they set up a simultaneous yell of savage 
delight. He was quickly drawn from the sad- 
dle, his hands tied behind him, and then placed 
in the centre of the assembled throng. 

Their savage orgies now commenced ; a pro- 
cession of all the grown males moved in a circle of 
some fifty feet in diameter round his person. 
Several of the number beat upon rude drums, form- 
ed of large calabashes with raw hides stretched 
tight and dried over the mouths; while others 

VoL. II. 2 


14 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


dexterously rattled dried bones and shuffled with 
their feet to their own music. Others chanted 
forth a monotonous death song; the whole form- 
ing the rudest, wildest, and most savage spectacle 
imaginable. 

Bacon himself stood an unmoved spectator of all 
these barbarous ceremonies. He felt a desperate 
and reckless indifference to what might befall him. 
Human endurance had been stretched to its utmost 
verge, and he felt within him a longing desire to 
end the vain struggle in the sleep of death. To 
one like him, who had in the last few hours endured 
the mental tortures of a hundred deaths, their 
savage cruelties had no terrors. A faint hope in- 
deed may have crossed his mind, that some war- 
rior more impetuous than his comrades, might 
sink his tomahawk deep into his brain in summary 
vengeance for the death of their chief. But they 
better understood the delights of vengeance. After 
performing their rude war-dance for some time, 
they commenced the more immediate preparations 
for the final tragedy. His hands were loosed, his 
person stripped and tied to a stake, while some 
dozen youths of both sexes busied themselves in 
splitting the rich pine knots into minute pins. 
These being completed, a circular pile of finely 
cleft pieces of the same material was built around 
his body, just near enough for the fire to convey 
its tortures by slow degrees without too sudden- 
ly ending their victim. A deafening -whoop from 
old and young announced the commencement of 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


15 


the ceremony. Each distinguished warrior pre- 
sent had the privilege of inserting a given num- 
ber of splinters into his flesh. The grim old sav- 
age who had first identified Bacon as the slayer of 
their chief, stepped forward and commenced the 
operation. He thrust in the tearing torments with 
a ferocious delight, not a little enhanced by the 
physical convulsive movements of his victim at 
every new insertion. Worn out nature however 
could not endure the uninterrupted completion of 
the process, and the victim swooned away. 

His body hung by the thongs which had bound 
his waist and hands to the stake, his head droop- 
ing forward as if the spirit had already taken its 
flight. He was immediately let down and the 
tenderest care observed to resuscitate him, in order 
that they might not be cheated of their full re- 
venge. His head and throat were bathed in cold 
water and his parched lips moistened through the 
medium of a gourd. At length he revived, and 
strange as it may appear, to a keener consciousness 
of his situation than he had felt since he left the 
church. All the wild horrors of his fate stared 
him in the face. The savages screamed with delight 
at his returning animation. Copious drafts of 
water were administered as he called for them. 
The most intense pain was already experienced 
from the festering wounds around each of the 
wooden daggers driven into his flesh. Again he 
prayed that some of them might instantaneously 
reach his heart, but his prayer was aot destined to. 


16 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


be granted. He was again fastened to the stake, 
and the second in dignity and authority proceeded 
to perform his share of the brutal exhibition. At 
this moment a piercing scream rent the air, and all 
tongues were mute, all hands suspended. 

The sound proceeded from the extreme right of 
the encampment. Here a larger hut than the rest 
stood in solitary dignity apart from the others, like 
an officer’s marqmi in a military encampment. In 
a few moments the rude door was thrust aside and 
an Indian female of exquisite proportions rushed 
to the scene of butchery, and threw herself be- 
tween the half immolated victim , and his blood- 
thirsty tormentors. Upon her head she wore a 
rude crown, composed of a wampum belt tightly 
encircling her brows, and surmounted by a circlet 
of the plumes of the kingfisher, facing outwards 
at the top. Around her waist was belted a short 
frock of dressed deer-skin, which fell in folds 
about her knees, and was ornamented around the 
fringed border with beads and wampum. Over 
her left shoulder and bust she gracefully wore a 
variegated skin dressed with the hair facing exter- 
nally ; from this her right arm extended, bare to 
the shoulder, save a single clasp at the wrist ; and 
she carried in her hand a long javelin mounted at 
the end with a white crystal. The remaining parts 
of her figure exhibited their beautiful proportions 
neatly fitted with a pair of buck-skin leggins, ex- 
tended and fringed on the seam with porcupine 
quills, copper and glass ornaments. Similar de*. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


IT 


corations were visible on her exquisitely propor- 
tioned feet and ankles. Thrusting her javelin in 
the ground with energy, and proudly raising her 
head, she cast a withering glance of scorn and in- 
dignation upon the perpetrators of the cruelty. 
Her address, translated into English, was to the fol- 
lowing purport: Is it for this,” and she pointed 
to Bacon’s bleeding wounds, ‘‘ that I have been in- 
vested with the authority of my sires ? Was it to 
witness the perpetration of these cruelties that I 
have been almost dragged from the house of my 
pale faced friends ? Scarcely has the fire burned out 
which was kindled to celebrate my arrival among 
you, before it is rekindled to sacrifice in its flames 
him who redeemed me from captivity. Is this the 
return which Chickahominies make for past fa- 
vours ? If so, I pray you to tear from my person 
these emblems of my authority among you.” 

She was immediately answered by the old war* 
rior who had commenced the tortures ; ‘‘ Did not 
the *long knife slay the chief of our nation ?” 

He was answered by a yell of savage delight 
from all the warriors present. Wyanokee (for it 
was she, as the reader has no doubt already sur- 
mised) continued, ‘‘Ay, he did slay King Fisher 
and his son — but were they not unjustly attempt- 
ing to take away the property of the pale faces .? 
and did they not commit the deed against their 
solemn promise and treaty, and after they had 


* This term originated, in Virginia., 
2 *- 


18 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


smoked the pipe of peace ? For shame, warriors 
and men — would ye turn squaws, and murder a 
brave and noble youth because he had fought for 
his own people and for the preservation of his own 
life ?” 

Her harangue was not received with the sub- 
mission and respect which she expected — many 
murmured at her defence, and claimed the death of 
the captive as a prescriptive right and an act of 
retributive justice. She advanced to cut the cords 
which bound the prisoner, but twenty more power- 
ful arms instantly arrested her movement. Toma- 
hawks were raised in frightful array, while deep and 
loud murmurs of discontent, and demands for ven- 
geance rent the air. She placed herself before the 
captive, and elevating her person to its utmost 
height, and extending her hands before him as a pro- 
tection, she cried, “ Strike your tomahawks here, 
into the daughter of your chief, of him who led you 
on to battles and to victory, but harm not the de- 
fenceless stranger.^’ The principal warriors held 
a consultation as to the fate of the prisoner. It was 
of but short duration, there being few dissenting 
voices to the proposition of the old savage, already 
mentioned as principal spokesman of the party. 
They soon returned and announced to their new 
queen that the council of the nation had decreed 
the prisoner’s death. ‘‘Never, never!” exclaim- 
ed the impassioned maiden, “ unless you first 
cleave off these hands with which I will protect 
him from your fury. Ha!” she cried, as a 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


19 


sudden thought seemed to strike her ; ‘‘ there is 
one plan of redemption by your own laws. I will 
be his wife!” A deep blush suffused her cheeks 
as she forced the reluctant announcement from her 
lips. An expression of sadness and disappoint- 
ment soon spread itself over the countenances of 
the revengeful warriors, for they knew that she 
had spoken the truth. Another council was im- 
mediately held; at which it was determined that 
their youthful queen, might according to the usages 
of the nation, take the captive for her husband, in 
the place of her kinsman who was slain. When 
this v/as proclaimed,, Wyanokee slowly and doubt- 
ingly turned her eyes upon Bacon to see whether 
the proposition met a willing response in his breast. 
A single glance sufficed to convince her that it did 
not. Instantly, however, recovering her self-pos- 
session, she cut the cords and led him to her hut, 
where after having been reinvested with the sad 
remnants of his bridal finery,, we must leave him 
foir the night. 


20 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


CHAPTER II. 


‘‘The several causes of discontent in the colo- 
ny of Virginia long nourished in secret, or mani- 
festing themselves in partial riots and insurrections^ 
were now rapidly maturing, and only the slight- 
est incident was wanting to precipitate them into 
open rebellion. 

“ Since the death of Opechancanough, the In- 
dians, deprived of the benefits of federative con- 
cert, had made but few attempts to disturb the 
tranquillity of the colony. Several of the tribes 
had retired westward, and those which remained, 
reduced in their numbers and still more in strength 
by the want of a common leader, lingered on the 
frontiers, exchanging their superfluous productions 
at stated marts with their former enemies. A long 
peace, added to a deportment almost invariably pa- 
cific, had in a great measure relaxed the vigilance 
of the colonists, and the Indians were admitted to 
a free intercourse with the people of all the coun- 
ties. It was scarcely to be expected that during 
an intercourse so irregular and extensive no 
grounds of uneasiness should arise. Several thefts 
had been committed upon the tobacco, corn, and, 
other property of the colonists.’’ 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 2 ^ 

These depredations were becoming daily more 
numerous and alarming, and repeated petitions had 
been sent in from all parts of the colony calling 
upon Sir William Berkley in the most urgent 
terms to afford them protection. The Governor 
remained singularly deaf tp these reasonable de- 
mands, and took no steps to afford that protection 
to the citizens for which government was in a 
great measure established. Some excuse was of- 
fered by his friends and supporters by pleading his 
great age and long services. Sir H. Chicerly, 
who had some time before arrived in the colony, 
clothed with the authority of Lieutenant Governor, 
and who had till now remained an inactive parti- 
cipator of the gubernatorial honours, began to col- 
lect the militia of the state ; but Sir William was 
no sooner informed, of these proceedings, so well 
calculated to allay the rising popular ferment, than 
he at once construed it into an attempt to super- 
sede his authority, and forthwith disbanded the 
troops already collected, and countermanded the 
orders for raising more, which had been sent by his 
subordinate through the several counties. These 
tiigh-handed measures of an obstinate and super- 
annuated man, inflamed the public mind. Meet- 
ings were called without any previous concert in 
almost every county in the province, and the most 
indignant remonstrances were sent in to the Gover- 
nor. These, however, only served to stimulate his 
obstinacy, while the continued depredations of the 
Indians wrought up the general feeling of dissatis- 


22 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


faction into a blaze of discontent. While these 
things were in progress, a circumstance happened, 
which, while it brought the contest to an imme- 
diate issue, had at the same time an impartant 
bearing upon all the principal personages of our nar- 
rative. On the night succeeding the melancholy 
catastrophe at the chapel, related in the last chap- 
ter, the tribes of Indians which had formerly been 
leagued together in the Powhatan confederacy, si- 
multaneously rose at dead of night and perpetrated 
the most horrid butcheries upon men, women, and 
children, in every part of the colony. The coun- 
cil had scarcely convened on the next morning be- 
fore couriers from every direction arrived with the 
dreadful tidings. Among others, there came one 
who announced to the Governor that his own coun- 
try seat had been consumed by the fires of the sa- 
vage incendiaries, and that Mrs. Fairfax, who had 
been ren^oved thither for change of scene by the ad- 
vice of her physician, was either buried in its ruins 
or carried away captive by the Indians. Public 
indignation was roused to its highest pitch, but it 
was confidently expected, now that his excellency 
himself was a sufferer both in property and feel- 
ings, that he would recede from his obstinate re- 
fusal to afibrd relief. But strange to say, in defi- 
ance of enemies, and regardless of the remonstran- 
ces of his friends, he still persisted. The result 
ensued which might have been expected ; meet‘s 
ings of the people, which had before been called 
called from the impulse of the moment, and with- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


23 


out concert, were now regularly organized, and im- 
mediate steps taken to produce uniformity of ac- 
tion throughout the different counties. 

While these elements of civil discord are fer- 
menting, we will pursue the adventures of our 
hero, whom we left just rescued from the hands 
of the relentless savages. The new queen of the 
Chickahominies, after having conducted Bacon to 
her own rude palace, retired for a short period in or- 
der to allow him just time to prepare himself for 
her reception. An Indian doctor was immedi- 
ately summoned and directed to extract the splin- 
ters and dress the wounds. The departure of this 
wild and fantastical practitioner of the healing art 
was the signal for her own entrance. Slowly ami 
doubtfully she approached her visiter, who was re- 
clining almost exhausted upon a mat. Upon her 
entrance he attempted to rise and profess his gra- 
titude, but overcome with pain, sorrow, and weak- 
ness, he fell back upon his rude couch, a grim 
smile and wild expression crossing his features. 
She gracefully and benignantly motioned him to 
desist, and at once waived all ceremony by seating 
herself on a mat beside him. Both remained in a 
profound and painful silence for some moments. 
Bacon’s mind could dwell upon nothing but the 
horrid images of the preceding hours of the night. 
Regardless of her presence and her ignorance of 
those circumstances which dwelt so painfully upon 
his memory, he remained in a wild abstraction, 
now and then casting a glance of startled recogni- 
tion and surprise at his royal hostess. 


24 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


She examined him far more intently and with not 
less surprise, after the subsidence of her first em- 
barrassment. Her sparkling eyes ran over his 
strange dress and condition, with the rapidity of 
thought, but evidently with no satisfactory result. 
She was completely at a loss to understand the 
cause of his visit, and the singular time and appear- 
ance in which he had chosen to make it. It is not 
improbable that female vanity, or the whisperings 
of a more tender passion, connected it in some way 
with her own recent flight. These scarcely re- 
cognised impressions produced however an evident 
embarrassment in her manner of proceeding. She 
longed to ask if Virginia was his bride, yet dread- 
ed to do so both on her own account and his. She 
had lived long enough in civilized society to un- 
derstand the signification of his bridal dress, but 
she was utterly at a loss to divine why he should 
appear in such a garb covered with mud, as if he 
had ridden in haste, in the midst of a warlike na- 
tion, and on the very night appointed for the cele- 
bration of his nuptials, unless indeed she might 
solve the mystery in the agreeable way before sug- 
gested. Catching one of the originally white bridal 
flowers of his attire between her slender fingers, 
she said with a searching glance; “Faded so 
soon He covered his face with his hands, and 
threw himself prostrate upon the mat, writhing like 
one in the throes of expiring agony. 

His benevolent hostess immediately called a 
little Indian attendant, in order to despatch him 
for the doctor ; but her guest shook his head and 


tJAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


25 


tinned with his uplifted hand for her to desis. 
She reseated herself^ more at a loss than ever to 
account for his present appearance and conduct. 
She had supposed that he was suffering from the 
pain of his wounds, but she now saw that of these 
he was entirely regardless. She became aware 
that a more deeply seated pain afflicted him. Again 
he turned his face toward the roof of the hut, his 
hands crossed upon his breast, and his bosom rack- 
ed with unutterable misery. 

Is the pretty Virginia dead?” 

The blackness of hell and horror was in his 
face as he turned a scowl upon his interrogator, 
and replied, Is this a new method of savage tor- 
ture ? If so, call in the first set, they are kind and 
benignant compared to you.” But seeming sudden- 
ly to recollect that she was ignorant of the pain she 
inflicted, betook her hand kindly and respectfully, 
and continued, ^‘Yes, Wyanokee, she is indeed 
dead to me. If you regard the peace of my soul, 
or the preservation of my senses, never whisper 
her name to the winds where it will be wafted to 
my ears. Never breathe what she has taught you. 
Be an Indian princess, but for God’s sake look, 
speak, or act not in such a way as to remind me of 
passed days. Tear open these wounds, inflict 
fresh tortures — yea, torture others if you will, so I 
but horrify my min4 with any other picture than 
h«r’s, 0 God, did ever sister rise before man’s 
imagination in such a damning form of loveliness? 
With most men, that little word would suffice to 
VoL. II. 3 


26 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


dispel the horrid illusion! but with me, cursed 
as I have been from my birth, and as I still am 
deeper cursed, the further I pursue this wretched 
shadow called happiness, I would wed her to- 
morrow, yea were the curse of the unpardonable 
sin denounced upon me from the altar instead of 
the benediction. For her I would go forth to the 
world, branded with a deeper damnation than ever 
encircled the brows of the first great murderer. I 
would be the scorn, the jest, the by-word of pre- 
sent generations, and a never dying beacon to 
warn those who come after me.” 

As he proceeded, Wyanokee fixed her dark 
penetrating eyes upon his face, until her own 
countenance settled into the expression of reveren- 
tial awe, with which the Indian invariably listens 
to the ravings of the maniac. At every period 
she moved herself backward on the mat, until at 
the conclusion, she had arrived at a respectful dis- 
tance, and crossed her hands in superstitious dread. 
A single glance conveyed her impressions to his 
mind, and he resumed, ‘^ No, no, my gentle pre- 
server, reason is not dethroned, she still presides 
here, (striking his forehead,) a stern spectator of 
the unholy strife .which is kept up between her 
sister faculties.’’ Leaning toward her upon his 
elbow, he continued in a thrilling whisper, ‘‘ You 
have heard me read from the sacred volume of the 
tortures prepared for the damned! of a future ex- 
istence, in winch the torments of ten thousand 
deaths shall be inflicted, and yet the immortal 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


27 


sufferer find no death ! His soul will be prepared 
for the endurance! I have already a foretaste of 
that horrible eternity ! And yet you see I preserve 
the power to know and to endure ! Is it not a 
dread mystery in this frail compound of ours-^ 
and portentous of evil to come, that this faculty 
of supporting misery so long outlives the good ? 
The wise men of Our race teach us that every 
pain endured is a preparation of the opposite fa- 
culty to enjoy pleasure! that our torpid fluids would 
stagnate without these contrasted stimulants j ’tis 
all a delusion, a miserable invention of the enemy. 
Man can suffer in this life a compound of horrors, 
for which its pleasures and allurements have no 
equivalent; yea, and he suffers them after all chance 
for happiness has vanished for ever. The pleasures 
of the world are like the morning glories of a sea 
of ice. The sun rises and sparkles in glittering 
rainbows for an hour, and then sinks behind the 
dark blue horizon, and leaves the late enraptured 
beholder, to feel the chill of death creeping along 
his veins, until his heart is ars cold and dead as the 
icebergs around ^ an atom of pleasure, and a uni- 
verse of pain.”’ 

His hearer sat in the most profound bewilder- 
ment ; much of his discourse was to her unintel- 
ligible, and notwithstanding his protestations to 
the contrary, she still retained her first impressions 
as to the state of his mind. She knew something of 
the various relations existing between the most 
important personages of our story, and in her own 


28 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


mind, had already begun to account for his present 
state. She supposed him to have been rudely torn 
from his bride. Her object therefore in the follow- 
ing words, was to learn something more of these 
particulars, and at the same time to soothe the ex- 
cited feelings of her guest. 

‘‘The great Father of the white man at James- 
town will restore your bride. Hoes not your 
good book say, ‘whom the’ Great Spirit ‘has 
joined together let no man put asunder?’ ” 

“Ay!” replied Bacon, “but what does it say 
when they are first joined together, by the ties of 
blood? Besides, he never did join us together in 
the holy covenant. He stamped it with his curse? 
He denounced his veto against it at the very foot 
of the altar. The same voice which thundered 
upon mount Sinai spoke there. His servant stood 
up before him and asked, ‘ If any man can show 
just cause why they may not lawfully be joined 
together let him now speak, or else hereafter for- 
ever hold his f>eace.’ And lo, both heaven and 
earth interposed at the same moment. The thun- 
ders of heaven rent the air, and that most fearful 
man appeared as if by miracle.” Again lowering 
his voice to a whisper, he continued, “As I rode 
upon the storm last night, and communed with the 
spirits of the air, some one whispered in my ear^ 
that the heavens were rent asunder and he came 
upon a thunderbolt. And then again as I walked 
upon the waves, and the black curtains gathered 
around, a bright light darted into my brain and I 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


saw the old Roundheads who were executed the 
other day, sitting upon a glorious cloud, mocking 
at my misery! yea, they mouthed at me. Ha, ha, 
ha !” The sound of his own unnatural laughter 
startled him like an electric shock — and instantly 
he seemed to recollect himself. 

He covered his face with his hands, and rested 
them upon his knees in silence. Some one entered 
and spoke to the queen in a low voice, and she im- 
mediately informed her guest that his horse was 
dead. ‘‘Dead!” said he> as he sprang upon his 
feet. “ His last— best— most highly prized gift 
dead! All on the same night — am I indeed curs- 
ed — in going out and in coming in? Are even 
the poor brutes that cling to me with affection^ 
thus cut down? but I would see him ere he is cold.” 

A torch-bearer soon appeared at the summons 
of his mistress, and the royal hostess and her 
guest proceeded to the spot. There lay the noble 
animal, his once proud neck straightened in the 
gaunt deformity of death. His master threw him- 
self upon his body and wept like an infant. The 
tears, the first he had shed, humanized and soothed 
his harrowed feelings. Slowly he arose, and gaz- 
ing upon the lifeless beast, exclaimed with a piteous 
voice, “Alas poor Bardolph, thy lot is happier 
than thy master’s!” 

The day was now dawning, and the morning air 
came fresh and invigorating to the senses, redolent 
of the wild perfumes blown upon the moor and 
forest, from the influence of a humid night* These 
2 * 


30 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


reviving influences however fell dead upon the be-* 
numbed faculties of our hero. In accordance with 
the urgent solicitations of his hostess, he agreed to 
swallow an Indian soporific, and try to lose his 
sorrows and his memory in that nearest semblance 
of death. He did not fail, as he re-entered the wig- 
wam, to observe that the whole village (called 
Orapacs) was busily preparing for some imposing 
ceremony, and that great accessions had been made 
to the numbers of the previous night. 

Long and soundly he slept ; when he awoke the 
sun was coursing high in the heavens. The air 
was balmy and serene, and his own monomaniacal 
hallucinations were dissipated, partly worn out by 
their own violence and partly dispelled by many 
hours of uninterrupted repose. Dreadful is that 
affliction which sleep will not alleviate. It is true 
that one suffering under a weight of misery which 
no hope lightens, no reasoning assuages, wakes to 
a present sense of his condition with a startling 
and miserable consciousness, yet upon the whole, 
the violence of grief has been soothed and mode- 
rated. So it was with our hero, and he walked forth 
a new and revived creature. 

But as he stepped from the wigwam, a specta- 
cle greeted his eye more akin to the fantasies of 
the previous night than to stern reality. The vil- 
lage was situated on a plain near the banks of the 
river. The forest remained much as it first grew, 
save that the undergrowth had been burned away 
and the ground afterwards overgrown with a lux- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


81 


Uriant coat of grass. This summary method of 
trimming tjie primitive forest gives it much the re- 
semblance of a noble park, cleared of its shrubs, 
undergrowth, and limbs, by the careful hands of 
the woodman. The scene, as Bacon looked along 
the woodland vista, had a wild novelty, and its as- 
pect would doubtless have been sedative in its ef- 
fect had it not been for the spectacle already alluded 
to, which we shall now endeavour to describe. 
An immense concourse of Indians was collected 
just without the external range of wigwams. They 
were seated in groups, in each of which he recog- 
nised the distinguishing marks of separate tribes, 
the representatives of each distinct nation of the 
peninsula having a distinct and separate place. At 
the head of this warlike assemblage, on a rude 
throne sat the youthful Queen of the Chickahomi- 
nies. Immediately around the foot of this eleva- 
tion were seated the few grim warriors yet remain- 
ing of that once powerful nation, and on her right 
hand the Powhatans. A fantastically dressed pro- 
phetof the latter tribe, with a curiously coloured he- 
ron’s feather run through the cartilage of his nose 
stood in the centre of the assembled nations, and 
harangued the deputies with the most violent gesti- 
culations, every now and then pointing in the direc- 
tion first of Jamestown, and then of Middle Planta- 
tions, (now Williamsburg,) and in succession after 
these, to the other most thickly peopled settlements 
of the whites. His rude eloquence seemed to have 
a powerful effect upon his warlike audience, from 


35 


CAVALIERS OE VIRGINIA. 


the repeated yells of savage cheering by which 
each appeal was followed. He concluded his ha- 
rangue by brandishing a bloody tomahawk over 
his head, and then striking it with great dexterity 
into a pole erected in the centre of the area. Nu- 
merous warriors and prophets from other tribes 
followed with similar effect and like purpose, to 
all of whom the stern savages listened with an 
eager yet respectful attention. When they had 
concluded, the youthful queen of the Chickahomi- 
nies descended one step from her throne, and ad- 
dressed the assembled nations; but her discourse 
was received in a far different spirit from that 
which had attended the eloquence of her prede- 
cessors. She was evidently maintaining the oppo- 
site side of the question which occupied the grave 
assembly, and it was apparent that the feelings of 
her auditors were hostile to her wishes and opi- 
nions. No evidences of delight greeted her bene- 
volent counsels, and she resumed her seat almost 
overpowered by the loud and general murmurs of 
discontent which arose at the conclusion of her 
‘‘talk.’* She felt herself a solitary advocate of 
the plainest dictates of justice and humanity — she 
felt the difficulty and embarrassment of addressing 
enlightened arguments to savage ears and unculti- 
vated understandings, and a painful sense of her 
own responsibility, and of regret for having as- 
sumed her present station, pressed heavily upon 
heart. 

Bacon saw only the eloquent language of their 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


33 


signs and gestures; but some knowledge of the out- 
rages already perpetrated easily enabled him to 
interpret their intentions. He knew that blood- 
shed and murder were the objects of their meeting, 
and he resolved to seize the earliest opportunity to 
escape, in order to take part in the defence of his 
country. His mind turned eagerly to this whole- 
some excitement, as the best outlet which was now 
left for the warring impulses within his breast. 


f 

f 



34 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


CHAPTER III. 

The retirement of Wyanokee from her tempo- 
rary presidency in the grand council of the con- 
federated nations, was the signal for beginning 
the general carouse, by which such meetings were 
usually terminated. Two huge bucks, with their 
throats cut, had been some time suspended from a 
pole laid across a pair of stout forked saplings, 
driven into the ground at the distance of a few 
feet from each other; these were now brought 
into the centre of the area, and quickly deprived 
of their skins. The neighbourhood of civilized 
man had already introduced that balie bf savage 
morals, whiskey; and plentiful supplies of this, 
together with pipes and tobacco, were now served 
to the representatives. A general scene of rude 
and savage debauch immediately followed. Meat 
was broiled or roasted upon the coals — wliiskey 
was handed round in calabashes, while the more 
gay and volatile members of the assemblage found 
an outlet for their animated feelings in the violent 
and energetic movements of the Indian dance. 
The sounds which issued from the forest were a 
mingled din of tinkling metals — rattling bones, 
and the monotonous humming of the singers, oc- 
casionally enlivened by a sharp shrill whoop from 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


S5 


some young savage, as his animal spirits became 
excited by the exercise. The squaws performed 
the part of menials, and bore wood, water, and 
corn, to supply the feast for their lords and mas- 
ters. 

The new queen of the nation, upon W’hose 
ground these carousals were held, retired to her 
own wigwam, as much disgusted with the moral 
blindness and depravity of the deputies, as with 
the commencing revels. Besides her disgust of 
what was left behind, there was an attraction for 
her in her owri sylvan palace, which, till a few 
hours back, it had sadly wanted in her eyes; not 
that she approached it with any hope that her 
passion would now or ever meet with a return 
from its object — but still there was a melancholy 
pleasure in holding communion with one so far 
superior to the rude, untutored beings she had 
just left. She felt also a longing desire, not only 
to learn more of the mysterious transactions of 
which she had gathered some vague indications 
from Bacon’s discourse, but to take advantage of 
present circumstances in returning some of the 
many favours heaped upon herself by her white 
friends. There was a nobler motive for this than 
mere gratitude; she wished to show to Bacon and 
Virginia, that she could sacrifice her own happi- 
ness to promote theirs. She felt now satisfied that 
both of them had discovered the existence of her 
passion, long before she was aware of the impro- 
priety of its exhibition according to civilized 


so CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 

usages, and she was anxious to evince to them ho W 
nobly an Indian maiden could cover this false step 
with honour. Full of these ennobling, and as it 
proved, delusive ideas, she entered the wigwam 
with a mien and step which would not have dis- 
graced a far more regal palace. 

Bacon was found upon a mat, reclining in melan- 
choly mood against the side of the apartment, in- 
tently eyeing the movements of the savages upon 
the green. She followed his eye for a mament in 
shame and confusion for the spectacle exhibited 
by the men of her own race. 

“Do you mark the difference,’’ said Bacon, 
‘^between the dances in yonder forest and those 
at Jamestown? Why do not the women join in 
the merry-making? We consider them worthy to 
partake of all our happiness,” 

“Ay, His true, there is no Virginia there!” 

His brow settled into a look of stern displeasure 
and offence, as he replied, Would you renew the 
scenes of the last night?” 

‘‘ No, Wyanokee desires not to give pain, but 
to remove it — as she came here now to show. You 
heard me claim you last night as a husband.” — A 
crimson tint struggled with the darker hue of her 
cheek, as she forced herself to proceed. — “But it 
was only to save you from the cruel hands of my 
countrymen. You may, therefore, give up all un- 
easiness on that subject — I know well that the Great 
Spirit has decreed it otherwise than I desired, and 
I submit without a murmur. It is useless for me to 


tJAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


37 


conceal that I had learned too quickly to feel the 
difference between a youth of your race, and one 
of yon rude beings; but it was more owing to my 
ignorance of your customs than any want of 
proper maidenly reserve. That is now passed, 
you are a married man^ and as such I can converse 
with you in confidence.” 

‘‘Yes,” said Bacon, a bitter smile playing over 
his countenance, “ I am married to stern adver- 
sity! ’Tis a solemn contract, and binds me to a 
bride from whom I may not easily be divorced. 
Death may cut the knot, but no other minister of 
justice can. I must say too, that the ceremonies 
of last night were fitting and proper. I wooed my 
bride through earth, air, and water; in thunder, 
lightning, and in rain. Nor was she coy or prudish. 
She came to my arms with a right willing grace, 
and clings to me through evil and through good 
report. I am hers, wholly hers for ever. It is 
meet that I should learn to love her at once. Ay, 
and I do hug her to my heart. Is she not my 
own? do we not learn to love our own deformities ? 
then why not learn to love our own sorrows.^ 
Doubtless we shall be very happy — a few little 
matrimonial bickerings at first, perhaps, but these 
will soon be merged in growing congeniality. Man 
cannot long live with any companion, without be- 
stowing upon it his affection; the snake, the spider, 
the toad, the scorpion, all have been loved and 
cherished : shall I not then love my bride ? Is 
there not a hallowed memory around her birth ? 

VoL. II. 4 


38 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


was she not nurtured and trained by these very 
hands ? Is there not wild romance too, in her 
adventures and our loves ? Is she not faithful and 
true ? yea, and young tool not coy perhaps, but 
constant and devoted.” 

Although this language was prompted by very 
different states, both of heart and head, from that of 
the preceding night, yet its literal construction 
by the Indian maiden betrayed her into very little 
more understanding of its import. She better 
comprehended the language of his countenance. 
That, she saw, indicated the bitterness of death, but 
the cause was still a mystery. She therefore con- 
tinued her kind endeavours with something more 
of doubt and embarrassment. ‘‘ My intention was 
to offer you and Virginia la home as soon as these 
warlike men are pacified and gone-— that you might 
come here and live with me until her grand uncle 
will receive her and you. Oh, it will make Wya- 
nokee very happy.” 

She would, no doubt, have continued in this 
strain for some time, but his impatience could be 
contained no longer. ‘‘Is it possible that you do not 
yet understand the depth and hopelessness of my 
misery ? Know it then in all its horrors. I was 
half married last night to my own half sister ! Did 
fate, fortune or hell ever more ingeniously con- 
trive to blight the happiness of mortal man at one 
fell blow ? View it for a moment. There was the 
game beautifully contrived — the stake was appa- 
rently trifling, but the prize glittered with India’s 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


3d 

richest rubies — the very thoughts of them conjured 
up scenes of fairy land. The richest fantasies 
of romance sparkled before the eye of the player. 
The wildest dream of earthly happiness allured 
him to each renewed attempt. First a little was 
staked — then another portion — then another to in- 
sure the two former, and so on until houses and 
lands and goods and chattels — yea and life itself, or 
all that made it valuable, were hazarded upon the 
throw. Lo, he wins ! Joy unutterable fills his 
breast — he is about to place the jewels next his 
heart, but behold they turn into scorpions. Rich 
and beautiful in all their former ruby colour — but 
there is a fearful talismanic power in their beauty. 
There is a deadly poison in the sight! They charm 
to kill. Lay them not near the heart or else the 
great magician, the king of evil — the prince of 
darkness himself, has bought you body and soul! 
That was my case. I won the glorious stake, I 
had it here (striking his breast), yea, and have i| 
now, and the devil is tempting me to lay it next 
my heart. I have wrestled with him all the night, 
but again he is at work. See that you do not help 
him!’^ 

Again she was lost in reverential awe. As his 
paroxysm by slow degrees returned, she exhibited 
in the mirror of her own countenance the passion, 
the wild enthusiasm, reflected from his, until the 
final charge to herself, when she was overcome with 
wonder and fear. His own preternaturally quick 
jpereeptiojis caught the efieet produced, and he again 


40 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


folded his arms and leaned back in grim and 
sullen silence, but with the keen eye of the serpent 
watching the changing countenance of his auditor. 
She was sunk in abstraction for some moments, and 
then, as if rather thinking aloud than communing 
with another, she said, “ Is it possible ?” 

‘‘ Yea, as true as that the serpent infused his 
poison into the ear of the mother of mankind. As 
true as that man was the first creature that died on 
the face of the earth by the hands of his fellow. 
As true as death and hell \ As true as that there 
is a hereafter. Happiness is negative! Misery- 
positive. There is always a subtle doubt linger- 
ing upon our most substantial scenes of happiness;^ 
but with misery it is slow, certain and enduring f 
the proof conclusive and damning. It is more real 
than our existence, and exists when it is no more. 
Our nerves are strung to vibrate to the touches of 
harmony and happiness only when played upon by 
inspirations from above, but they vibrate in dis- 
cord to the earth) the air, the winds, the waves^ 
the thunder — the lightning. They are rudely han- 
dled by men, beasts, reptiles, devils, by famine, 
disease and death. Am I not a wretched monu- 
ment of its truth ? Are not these miserable and 
faded trappings, the funeral emblems of my moral 
decease? Am I not a living tomb of my own soul ? 
A memento of him that was, with an inscription 
on my forehead, ‘.Here walks the body of Nathan- 
iel Bacon, whose sonl was burned out on the ever 
memorable night of his own wedding, by an. in> 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


41i 


eendiary in the mortal habiliments of his own Fa- 
ther, with a torch lit up in pandemonium itself? 
His body still walks the earth as a beacon and a 
warning to those who would commit incest!”’ 

The door was darkened for a moment, and in 
the next the Recluse stood before him. His giant 
limbs lost none of their extent or proportions as 
viewed through the dim light which fell in scanty 
and checkered masses from the insterstices of the 
sylvan walls. He stood in the light of the only 
door, — his features wan and cadaverous, and his 
countenance wretchedly haggard. “Why linger- 
est thou here in the lap of the tawny maiden, when 
thy countrymen will so soon need the assistance of 
thy arm? This night the torch of savage war- 
fare and cruelty will in all probability be lighted, 
up in the houses of thy friends and kindred. 
Is it becoming, is it manly in thee to seek these 
effeminate pastimes, in order to drown the imagef* 
of thy own idle fancy ? If thou hast unconsciously 
erred, and thereby cruelly afflicted thy nearest 
kindred, is this the way to repair the evil ? Set 
thou them the example!; Be a man — the son of a 
soldier. Thy father before thee has suffered tor- 
tures of the mind, and privations of the body, to 
which thine are but the feeble finger-aches of 
childhood as compared to the agonies of a painful- 
and protracted death. Rouse thyself from thy 
unmanly stupor, and hie thee hence to the protec-' 
tion of those who should look up to thee. Be not 
anxious for me, maiden; I see thy furtive glances 
4 * 


42 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


at the besotted men of thy race, and thence to me, 

I have long watched their movements. They see 
me not; they will attempt no injury — and if they 
should their blows would fall upon one reckless of 
danger — who has nought to gain or lose, — who 
has long had his lights trimmed, and lamp burning, 
ready for the welcome summons.’^ 

When he first entered the wigwam. Bacon 
sprang upon his feet, and gazed upon the unwel- 
come apparition as if he doubted his humanity; 
but as his hollow and sepulchral voice fell upon 
his ear in the well known, deep excited into- 
nations of the chapel, he moved backward, his 
hands clasped, until his shoulders rested against 
the wall. There, shuddering with emotion, he 
gazed earnestly and in silence upon his visiter, 
whose words fell upon an indiscriminating ear. 
The Recluse perceived something of his condi- 
tion as he continued, ‘‘ Hearest thou not? — seest 
thou not? Rouse thee from this unmanly weak- 
ness. I saw thy dead horse upon the moor. I 
will leave thee mine at the head of the Chicka- 
hominy Swamp. When night closes upon yonder 
brutal scene, mount and ride as if for thy life, even 
then thou mayst be too late! Remember! This 
night be thou in Jamestown!” 

Having thus spoken, he stooped through the 
door, and vanished among the trees behind the 
wigwam, as he had come. Bacon still gazed uporr 
the place where he had been, as if he still occupied 
the spot, his eyelids never closing upon the dis^- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


43 


tended iris, until he fell upon the floor in a swoon. 
Such restoratives as an Indian wigwam aflbrded, 
were speedily administered, and very soon the 
desired efiect was produced. While he lay thus 
worn down by the sufferings produced by the 
tortures of the previous night, and the cruel ex- 
citement of his feelings, Wyanokee discovered, 
as she was bathing his temples, the small gold 
locket, which he had worn suspended from his 
neck, since the death of Mr. Fairfax. Appa- 
rently it contained nothing but the plaited hair 
and the inscription already mentioned. She caught 
it with childlike eagerness, and turned it from 
side to side, with admiring glances, when her fin- 
ger touched a spring and it flew open; the interior 
exhibited to view the features of a young and love- 
ly female. 

At this juncture Bacon revived. His counte- 
nance was pale and haggard from the exhaustion 
of mental and bodily sufferings. His perceptions 
seemed clearer, but his heart was burdened and op- 
pressed — he longed for speedy death to terminate 
the wretched strife. The prospect was dark and 
lowering in whatever direction he cast his thoughts;, 
no light of hope broke in upon his soul — all before 
him seemed a dreary joyless waste. In this mood 
he accidentally felt the open trinket within the 
facings of his doublet, and inserting his hand he 
drew it forth. His head was elevated instantly, 
his eyes distended and his whole countenance ex- 
hibited the utmost astonishment. His first emo« 


44 * 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


tion was any thing but pleasant — as if he had drawn 
from his bosom one of his own figurative scorpions, 
but this was speedily succeeded by one of a differ- 
ent nature. The first sensation of pleasure which 
he had felt since he left Jamestown beamed upon 
his mind; it was mingled with the most unbounded 
surprise; but quick as thought the light of hope broke 
in upon his dark and cheerless prospects. Again and 
again the picture was closely scrutinized, but with 
the same conviction, never before had he beheld that 
face. It was resplendent with smiles and beauty. 
The dark hazel eyes seemed to beam upon him with 
affectionate regard. The auburn tresses almost flut- 
tering in the breeze, so warm and mellow were 
the lights and shadows. But what rivetted his at- 
tention was the want of resemblance in the picture 
to the lady whom he had been so recently and so 
painfully taught to believe his mother. The lat- 
ter had light flaxen ringlets and blue eyes, and the 
tout ensemble of the features were totally dissimi- 
lar. He imagined he saw a far greater resemblance 
between the picture and himself, and hence the 
ray of hope. But in the place of despair came 
feverish suspense — he now longed again to meet 
the Recluse, whose presence had so lately filled 
him with horror. His mind sought in vain with- 
in its own resources for means to bring the ques- 
tion to an immediate issue. Was he the first-born, 
son of Mrs. Fairfax or not? Perhaps Brian 0’ 
Reily could tell something of the picture, or had 
seen the original., No sooner had this faint glim- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


45 


mering prospect of unravelling the mystery dawn- 
ed upon his mind, than he was seized with the 
most feverish desire to set out for Jamestown. 

The savages still kept up the carouse, but it 
would be hazardous in the extreme, as he was as- 
sured by his hostess, to attempt to leave Orapacs- 
until the conclusion of the feast, which perhaps- 
would last till night. At that , time they were all 
to proceed to the Powhatan domain. He was 
compelled therefore to content himself with read- 
ing the lineaments of the interesting countenance 
just opened to his view. 

Upon what a frail foundation will a despairing 
man build up his fallen castles in the air. Suck 
was the occupation of our hero until the light of 
the sun had vanished over the western hills. He 
lay upon his mat in the twilight gloom, indulging 
in vague uncertain reveries. Ho had examined 
the picture so long, so intently, and under such a 
morbid excitement of the imagination, that he sup- 
posed himself capable of recollecting the features. 
He bad called up dim and misty shadows of me- 
mory (or those of the imagination nearly resem- 
bling them) from a period wrapped in obscurity 
and darkness. He endeavoured to go back step 
by step to his years of childhood, until his excited 
mind became completely bewildered among the 
fading recollections of long passed days. As the 
rippling waters of the purling stream mingled with 
the monotonous whistling of the evening breeze,, 
his versatile imagination fell into a kindred train.. 
The music of the nursery, by which hia. childish 


46 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


struggles had been lulled to repose, floated over his 
memory in the tenderest and purest melancholy. 
Who that has music in his soul has not, at a like 
season and hour, refreshed his heart with these 
early impressions? Nor are they entirely con- 
fined to an inviting melancholy mood and the hour 
of twilight. In the full vigour of physical and 
mental power, and when the spirits are bounding 
and elastic — in the midst of dramatic representa- 
tions or the wildest creations of Italian musical 
genius, these stores of memory’s richest treasures 
will suddenly flood the soul, touched perhaps by 
the vibration of some kindred chord. Bacon’s 
harassed mind was refreshed by the tender and 
softened mood into which he had fallen. Besides, 
he was now stimulated by the glimmering dawn 
of hope. When therefore darkness had completely 
covered the face of the landj he arose to go upon 
his mission, a different being. Although his own 
^motions on parting were faint compared to those 
of Wyanokee, they were yet sorrowful and ten- 
der. He lamented the lot of the Indian maiden, 
and respected the virtues and accomplishments 
which elevated her so far above those by whom 
she was surrounded. He bade her adieu with the 
most heartfelt gratitude for her services, and aspi- 
rations for her welfare. 

When he stepped from the wigwam he was 
astonished to see the huge fires, upon which they 
had cooked the feast, still burning with undimi- 
nished brilliancy, and still more startled to observe 
t;Wenty or more savages lying drunk around them, 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


47 


and half as many sober ones holding vigils over 
their slumbers. He immediately changed his in- 
tended direction, and skirted round the forest in 
which they lay, so as to arrive at the place point- 
ed out by the Recluse by a circuitous rout. 

When he came opposite to the fires, and half way 
upon his circuit, he was not a little alarmed to hear 
the astounding warwhoop yelled by one of the 
sentinels. Casting his eyes in that direction he saw 
that all the guard were on the qui vive, and some 
of the slumberers slowly shaking off their stupidi- 
ty. He supposed that one of the sentinels had 
heard his footsteps, and thus alarmed the rest. 
Taking advantage of the trees, and the distance 
he had already gained, he was enabled to elude 
their vigilant senses. But when he came to the 
spot pointed out by the Recluse, a greater difficulty 
presented itself. The horse was already gone, but 
not taken by the one who brought him there, as he 
saw evidently from the impressions of his feet in 
the earth, where he had stood most of the afternoon. 
He soon came to the conclusion that the Indians 
had found and carried him off.' This was the more 
probable as they adjourned their council about 
the time he must have been taken. His call to 
Jamestown was too urgent to be postponed, and 
however feeble in body he determined to exert 
his utmost strength to arrive there during the night. 


48 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


CHAPTER IV. 

OtR hero reached Jamestown late on the very 
morning when the couriers arrived in such rapid 
succession, with the startling intelligence of the 
Indian massacres. All night he had wandered 
over the peninsula, vainly endeavouring to dis- 
cover his way; light after light shot up amidst the 
surrounding gloom, and more than once he had 
been misled by these, almost into the very clutches 
of the swarming savages. His heart sank within 
him as he saw plantation after plantation, in their 
complete possession; the illumination of their in- 
cendiary trophies lighting up the whole surround- 
ing country. It seemed indeed to his startled 
senses as if the Indians had simultaneously risen 
upon and butchered the whole white population of 
the colony. With the exception of a small rem- 
nant, they had already once perpetrated the like 
horrible deed, and he again saw in his imagination 
the dreadful scenes of that well remembered night. 
Feeble old men, women and children indiscrimi- 
nately butchered — perhaps Virginia, whom he once 
again dared to think of, among the number. True, 
Wyanokee had assured him otherwise, but might 
not the grand council have determined upon the 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


49 


deed at the more appropriate time of their night- 
ly meeting] 

As the dawning day unfolded to his view the 
relative bearings of the country^ these gloomy 
anticipations were partly realized. Every ave- 
nue to the city, both by land and water, was 
crowded with people of all sexes, colours and con- 
ditions, flying to the protection of the Fort. Wa- 
gons, carts, negroes, and white bondsmen, were 
laden with furniture, provisions, and valuables. 
Ever and anon a foaming charger flew swiftly by, 
bearing some Cavalier to the city, doubly armed for 
retributive vengeance. By these he was greeted 
and cheered upon his way, as well as informed of 
the depredations committed in the neighbourhood 
whence they had come. From one of these also 
he procured a horse, and joined a cavalcade of his 
associates and friends, proceeding to the same 
centre of attraction. To them also he unfolded 
so much of his recent adventures as related to the 
general interests of the colony. Long, loud, and 
vindicative were their denunciations, as well of 
the treacherous savages as the stubborn old man 
at the head of affairs in the colony. 

Although evident traces of his late bodily suffer- 
ings were perceptible in Bacon’s countenance, no 
vestige of his mental hallucinations on one par- 
ticular theme was perceived; his mind was intent- 
ly occupied upon the all absorbing topic of com- 
mon safety. As they proceeded together to the 
city, it was proposed to him to assume the com- 
VoL. II. 5 


50 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


mand of a volunteer regiment, ^vhich they undef-^ 
took to raise as soon as they arrived in Jamestown# 
His military talents and daring bravery \Vere al- 
ready well known by most of his associates, but he 
doubted whether he was the most proper person 
in the colony to assume so responsible a command. 
As 'to his own personal feelings, never did fortune 
throw the chance of honourable warfare more 
opportunely in the way of a desperate man. True^ 
it would have come still more seasonably twenty- 
four hours sooner, but then he would only have been 
better qualified for some desperate deed of personal 
daring, not for a command upon which hung the 
immediate fate of all the colonists, and the ultimate 
supremacy of the whites in Virginia. He promis- 
ed, however, to accede to their proposal, provided, 
after the regiment was raised, in which he must 
be considered a volunteer, the majority cheerfully 
tendered him their suffrages. He stated the hos- 
tility of the Governor to him personally, without 
enlightening them as to its most recent cause ; but 
they were now as resolute upon disregarding the 
feelings and wishes of Sir William, as he had al- 
ready shown himself in disregarding their own. In 
short, they resolved at once to assume that authori- 
ty to protect their lives and property, which they 
now felt, if they had never before known, was an 
inalienable right. Here was sown the first germ 
of the American revolution. Men have read the 
able arguments — the thrilling declamations, the 
logical defence of natural and primitive rightSjj 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


51 


which the men of ’76 put forth to the worlds with 
wonder at the seeming intuitive wisdom that burst 
so suddenly upon the world at the very exigency 
which called it into action. But in our humble 
opinion, the inception of these noble sentiments 
was of much earlier date — their development not 
so miraculous as we would like to flatter ourselves. 
Exactly one hundred years before the American 
revolution, there was a Virginian revolution based 
upon precisely similar principles. The struggle 
commenced between the representatives of the 
people and the representatives of the king. The 
former had petitioned for redress, ‘‘time after 
time,” — remonstrance after remonstrance had been 
sent in to Sir William Berkley, but he was deaf 
to all their reasonable petitions. The Cavaliers 
and citizens of the colony now arrived at the 
infant capital, resolved to take upon themselves 
as much power as was necessary for the defence 
of life, freedom, and property. While the gather- 
ing multitude flocked to the State House and pub- 
lic square in immense numbers. Bacon alighted at 
the Berkley Arms, in order to change his dress, 
and before he joined them, perform one act of duty 
which it would have been difficult for him to say 
whether it was anticipated with most pain or 
pleasure. It was a visit to Mrs. Fairfax and her 
daughter. He walked immediately from the hotel 
to the quarters usually occupied by the servants 
of the Fairfax family, in hopes of finding O’Reily 
to despatch for his effects, which he supposed 


52 CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 

he could not obtain in person, without suddenly 
and unpreparedly exposing himself to the notice 
of the family. But the house was silent as the 
tomb! No gently curling smoke issued from the 
chimney; no cheering light broke in at the win- 
dows; all was dark, noiseless, and desolate. The 
domestic animals still lingered around their accus- 
tomed haunts, apparently as sad in spirit as he 
who stood with his arms folded gazing upon the 
deserted mansion. The streets were indeed crowd- 
ed with the eager and tumultuous throng, but af- 
ter the first unsuccessful essay at the door of the 
servant’s hall, he had passed round into the gar- 
den of the establishment, and stood as we have 
described him, a melancholy spectator of the pain- 
ful scene. There hung Virginia’s bird cage against 
the casings of the window, perhaps placed by her 
own hands on the morning of the unfortunate catas- 
trophe, but the little songster was lying dead upon 
the floor. The blooming flowers around her win- 
dows hung in the rich maturity of summer, but 
seemed tO mock the desolation around with their 
gay liveries. The dogs indeed lazily wagged their 
tails at his presence, and fawned upon him, but 
they, too, slunk away in succession, as if conscious 
of the rupture which had taken place in his rela- 
tions with the family. 

What a flood of tender recollections rushed upon 
his memory as he stood thus solitary in the flower 
garden of her who was the sole object of his youth- 
ful and romantic dreams, and gazed upon the well 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


53 


known objects, — each one the memento of some 
childish sport or pleasure. There too stood the 
shaded seats and bowers of more mature adven- 
tures, redolent of the richest fruits and flowers, 
and teeming with the hallowed recollection of 
love’s young dream. Nor were tears wanting to 
the memory of that early friend and patron who 
had given him shelter in his helpless days, from 
the cold neglect and inhospitality of the world, 
and thus, perhaps, saved him the degradation of a 
support at the public expense. These softened 
and subdued emotions humanized the savage mood 
which sprung up from similar reminiscences on a 
previous occasion. The current of his feelings 
had been changed by a single ray of hope. The 
fountain was not now wholly poisoned, and the 
sweet water turned to gall and bitterness. The 
scene therefore, painful and melancholy as- it was, 
produced beneficial results. But he marvelled 
that the house should be so totally deserted. He 
supposed that the lady and her daughter might be 
sojourning for a time with the Governor, but what 
had become of their numerous domestics ? They 
too could not be quartered at the gubernatorial 
mansion. And above all, what had become ofhis 
own Hibernian follower ? Certainly, he was not 
thus provided for. He knew his privileged ser- 
vant’s warm partialities and hatreds too well to be- 
lieve that he had accepted any hospitality from his 
master’s bitterest enemy. At fhat moment a ser- 
vant of the Berkley Arms was passing, and having 
5 * 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


54 

p 

called him into the garden, Bacon raised a window 
leading to his own apartments, procured such of 
his garments as he most needed, and despatched 
them to the hotel. When he had encased himself 
in these, somewjiat to his own satisfaction (and 
most young Cavaliers in those days wore their gar- 
ments after a rakish fashion) he sallied out to per- 
form the duty which he felt to be most incumbent 
on him. He knocked at the door of Sir William 
Berkley’s mansion, with very different feelings 
from any he had before experienced on a similar 
occasion. The relations so lately discovered to 
exist between himself and those for whom his visit 
W'as intended, as well as his feelings toward those 
who had the right of controlling in some measure 
the persons admitted to visit at the mansion, awak- 
ened anxious thoughts not a little heightened by the 
anticipation of meeting Beverly, with w’hom an un- 
expected interview promised few agreeable emo- 
tions. The family seemed determined too that he 
should have the benefit of all these reflections, from 
the length of time they kept him standing in the 
street. At length the porter opened the door with 
many profound inclinations of the head, still stand- 
ing however full within the entrance, and continu- 
ing his over wrought politeness. ‘‘ Is Mrs. Fair- 
fax within ?” was the inquiry. 

‘‘ She is dead! may it please your honour !” 

Dead!” uttered Bacon with a hoarse and trem- 
bling voice. “ When and how T’ 

“ His Excellency has just received the news— 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


55 


she was murdered last night at his country seat by 
the Indians.” 

Was Miss was his niece there also ?” he 

asked with a bewildered doubt jvhether he had bet- 
ter inquire any further. ^ 

No, Sir, she lies ill of a fever up stairs. Dr. 
Roland scarcely ever leaves her room, except to 
tell Master Frank the state of his patient.”' 

I will enter for a moment and speak a few 
words with the good doctor.” 

‘‘Pardon me, your honour, it gives me great 
pain to refuse any gentleman admittanee, but my 
orders are positive from Sir William himself to 
admit no one to the sick room, and above all not 
to admit your honour within these doors. I have 
over and over again turned away Miss Harriet, who 
seems as if she would weep her eyes out, poor 
lady, at my young mistress’ illness and the Gover- 
nor’s cruelty, as she calls it.” 

“ I see you have a more tender heart than your 
master ; here is gold for you, not to bribe you 
against your duty or inclinations ; but you will 
fully earn it by informing Dr. Roland that Mr. 
Bacon wishes to speak with him for five minutes 
at the Arms, upon business of the last importance.” 

“ I will tell him, sir; but I do not. think he will 
go, because he has himself^ given the strictest in- 
junctions that your name shall not be whispered in 
the room, or even in the house. No longer than 
this morning, sir, she heard them announce the 
death of her mother down stairs. Her hearing is 


50 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


indeed extraordinary, sir, considering her so poor^ 
ly. Since that she has been much worse.” 

Bacon did not choose to expose himself to the 
chance of insult any^ longer by meeting some of the 
male members of the family, he therefore took 
his departure from the inhospitable mansion, and 
skirted round the unfrequented streets, in order to 
avoid the immense multitude collected in the 
square and more frequented passages. He could 
hear the shouts and cheering which echoed against 
the houses as he proceeded,, but little did he ima- 
gine that they welcomed his own nomination to 
the responsible station of commander to the colo- 
nial forces. His intention was to proceed to the 
4^,rms, and there await the arrival of the doctor; 
but he no sooner entered the porch than he was 
seized by the hand in the well known and sympa- 
thizing grasp of Dudley. 

While the friends were yet uttering their words 
of greeting, and before they had propounded one 
of the many questions which they desired to ask, 
Bacon was seized under each arm with a rude, but 
not disrespectful familiarity — saluted by the title of 
Geneial, and borne off toward the state house in 
spite alike of remonstrances and entreaties. 

It was with great difficulty they could gain the 
square, so dense was the barricade of ox carts load- 
ed with furniture, and wagons thronged with negro 
children ; while families in carriages and on horse- 
back, and thousands of the multitude promiscu- 
pu^ly huddled together, increased the difficulty of; 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 57 

making way. Since he had heard the startling 
news of the death of Mrs. Fairfax, his mind was 
more than ever bent upon joining the proposed 
expedition; and had it not been for the interruption 
to the anticipated meeting with the Doctor, no one 
could have appeared upon the rostrum with greater 
alacrity. 

The contumaceous conduct of the Governor to- 
ward the respectful remonstrances and petitions of 
the citizens, and more especially his unwarranted 
and disrespectful treatment of himself, recurred 
to his mind in good time. He mounted the rude 
platform hastily erected in front of the state 
house, burning with indignation, and glowing with 
patriotism.* ‘‘ He thanked the people for the un- 
expected and unmerited honour they had just con- 
ferred upon him. He accepted the office tender- 
ed to him with alacrity, and none the less so 
that yonder stubborn old man will not endorse it 
with his authority, and sanction our proceeding un- 
der the ordinary forms of law. What has pro- 
duced this simultaneous explosion in the colony? 
What are the circumstances which can thus array 
all the wealth, intelligence and respectability of 
the people against the constituted authorities. Let 
your crippled commerce, your taxed, overburden- 
ed and deeply wronged citizens answer ? The 
first has been embarrassed by acts of parliament, 
which originated here, the most severe, arbi- 
trary and unconstitutional, while your citizens 

; * This is an abstract of the speech really delivered by Bacon. 


58 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


both gentle and hardy, have been enormously and 
indiscriminately taxed in order to redeem your 
soil from the immense and illegal grants to unwor- 
thy and sometimes non-resident favourites. 

There was a time when both Cavalier and yeo* 
man dared to be free; when your assembly, boldly 
just to their constituents, scrupled not to contend 
with majesty itself in defence of our national and 
chartered rights. But melancholy is the contrast 
which Virginia at this time presents. The right 
of suffrage which was coeval with the existence of 
the colony, which had lived through the arbitrary 
reign of James, and with a short inteiruption 
through that of the first Charles, which was again 
revived during the commonwealth, and was con- 
sidered too sacred to be touched even by the im- 
pure hands of the Protector, is now sacrilegiously 
stolen from you during a season of profound peace 
and security. 

The mercenary soldiers, sent from the mother 
country at an immense expense to each of you, fel- 
low-citizens, where are they ? Revelling upon the 
fat of the land at distant and unthreatened posts, 
while our fathers, and mothers, and brothers, and 
sisters, are butchered in cold blood by the ruthless 
savage. Where is now the noble and generous 
Fairfax, the favourite of tbe rich and the poor ? 
Where his estimable and benevolent lady ? Mur- 
dered under the silent mouths of the rusty cannon 
which surmount yonder palisade. Look at his 
0ad and melancholy mansion, once the scene of 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


59 


generous hospitality to you all — behold its desert- 
ed halls and darkened windows. But this is only 
the nearest evidence before our eyes — within the 
last twenty-four hours hundreds of worthy citizens 
have shared the same fate. 

“ Shall these things be longer borne, fellow- 
citizens 

“No! no! no!” burst from the multitude — - 
“down with the Governor, and extermination to 
the Indians.” 

He continued. “Already I see a noble band 
of mounted youths, the sons of your pride and 
your hopes — flanked by a proud little army of 
hardier citizens; from these I would ask a pledge, 
that they never lay down their arms, till their 
grievances are redressed.” — 

“ We swear — we swear,” responded from all, 
and then, three cheers for General Bacon, made 
the welkin ring. At this juncture the trumpet, 
drum, and fife, were heard immediately behind the 
crowd, and a party of the royal guard, some fifty 
in number, halted upon the outskirts of the assem- 
blage, while their officer undertook to read a 
proclamation from the Governor, ordering the mob, 
as he was pleased to style the meeting, to disperse 
under penalty of their lives and property. The 
arm^ of the people^ already getting under arms, 
immediately comm6nced an evolution by which 
the temporary commander of the mounted force 
would have been thrown directly fronting the 
guard, and between them and the multitude. Ba- 


60 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


con saw the intended movement, and instantly 
countermanded the orders, “Let the people,’^ said 
he, “ deal with this handful of soldiers ; we will 
not weaken our force, and waste our energies by 
engaging in intestine broils, when our strength is so 
much called for by the enemies of our race upon 
the frontiers.” The suggestion was immediately 
adopted; before the hireling band could bring their 
weapons to the charge, the multitude had closed in 
upon them, and disarmed them to a man. This ac- 
complished, they were taken to the beach, in spite 
of the remonstrances of many of the more staid 
and sober of the Cavaliers and citizens, and there 
soundly ducked. Very unmilitary indeed was 
their appearance, as they were marshalled into 
battle array, all drooping and wet, and thus march- 
ed to the music of an ignominious tune to the front 
of the Governor’s house. 

The frantic passion of S^r William Berkley can 
be more easily imagined than described. He saw 
that he was left almost alone — that those citizens 
most remarkable for their loyalty had deserted 
him. However wilful and perverse, he saw the ne- 
cessity of making temporary concessions, although 
at the same time more than ever bent upon sum- 
mary vengeance against the most conspicuous lead- 
ers of the opposing party whenever chance or for- 
tune should again place the real power of the 
colony in his hands. At present he felt that he 
was powerless— -the very means which he had 
taken to thwart and provoke the people now be- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA 


61 


came the source of the bitterest regret to himself, 
namely — sending the mercenary soldiers of the 
crown to distant posts on fictitious emergencies. 
He resolved therefore to disguise his real feelings 
until the departure of the popular army, when he 
could recall his own regular troops, and thus take 
signal vengeance upon such of the agitators as 
should be left behind, and thence march immedi- 
ately to the subjugation of the force commanded 
by Bacon. Scarcely had the presence of the drip- 
ping guard, as seen through his window, suggested 
these ideas, before an opportunity offered of putting 
in practice his temporary forbearance. 

A committee was announced, at the head of 
%vhich was Mr. Harrison, his former friend and 
supporter — they were the bearers of a conciliatory 
letter from General Bacon. In this letter the 
young commander in chief, in accordance with 
the suggestions of the older Cavaliers, respectfully 
announced his election to the command of the vo- 
lunteer army, and concluded by requesting the 
Governor to heal all existing breaches by sanction- 
ing his own appointment, as well as that of the 
appended list of young Cavaliers, to the various 
stations annexed to their names; and that no delay 
might occur in the pursuit of the enemy, an im- 
mediate answer was requested. The stout old 
Cavalier was ready to burst with ill suppressed 
rage as he marked the cool and respectful tone of 
this epistle, coming from one he most cordially 

VoL. H. 6 


62 CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 

detested and despised, both on public and private 
grounds. 

The committee waited until he had penned his 
answer, which was cold and formal, but polite. 
In it he declined signing the commissions in the 
absence of the council, but promised to convene it 
early on the ensuing da}^ when he stated that he 
would despatch a courier after the army, if the 
council thought proper to approve of the popular 
proceedings. He promised also to dismantle the 
distant forts, and immediately to call in the foreign 
troops for the defence of the capital. 

With this answer, the committee, he to whom it 
was addressed, and the populace were v/ell satis- 
fied. It really promised more thaw they had ex- 
pected of the obstinate old Governor. Little did 
they dream of the lurking treachery in the old 
man’s heart, much less did they truly interpret 
the equivocal language contained in the note itself^ 
concerning the foreign soldiers, and the defence 
of the capital. Little did they imagine that they 
themselves were the foes against whom he pro- 
posed to employ the mercenaries. 

The army now took up its line of march across 
the bridge, amidst the cheers and blessings of the 
multitude ; men, women, and children following 
them to the boundaries of the island. 

Part of the force was sent up the river in sloops, 
in order to co-operate with the main army in their 
design of driving the tribes scattered along the 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


63 


water courses of the peninsula, to a common point 
of defence, and thus forcing them, if possible, into 
an open, general, and decisive engagement. The 
youthful commander in chief was intimately ac- 
quainted with all the localities between the seat 
of government, and the falls of the river, (where 
Richmond now stands,) and he very ingeniously 
arranged his forces by land and water, so that he 
might at the same time drive the treacherous 
enemy before him through the peninsula, and 
avoiding a premature battle, concentrate the ene- 
my at the point already indicated. It was with 
this general view, that one part of his force was 
now sent up the river, while the other pursued 
the route between the Chickahominy and the 
Pamunky rivers. These general views were dis- 
cussed, and the plan decided upon at a council of 
war, held on the main land, immediately after the 
troops had passed the bridge. Bacon having im- 
parted to Charles Dudley, his Aid-de-Camp, such 
orders as the emergency required, turned his horse’s 
head again toward the bridge, and retraced his steps 
to Jamestown. 


64 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


CHAPTER V. 


The martial sounds of drums and trumpets had 
scarcely died away over the distant hills, when 
Sir William Berkley despatched couriers to the 
various military outposts of the colony, perempto- 
rily ordering the commanders to march forthwith 
to Jamestown with the forces under their com- 
mand. To these couriers also were given secret 
instructions for the private ears of such of his 
loyal friends among the Cavaliers living on their 
routes, as he knew would adhere to him under any 
circumstances, urgently soliciting their immediate 
presence at the capital. After these were despatch- 
ed, he summoned a secret conclave of such friends,- 
equally worthy of his trust, as were yet to be 
found in the city. 

Thus were they engaged, as General Bacon, 
habited in the rich military fashion of the day, 
rode along the north western skirt of the city, his 
own gay attire, and the splendid trappings of his 
horse wretchedly mocking the desolation with- 
in. He drew up at the back court of the Berkley 
Arms, dismounted, and passed immediately into 
a private room. Having despatched a servant for 
the landlord, he employed the time before he 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


65 


made his appearance, in meditations upon the 
singular and protracted absence of Brian O’Reily, 
the new responsibilities which he had just assumed, 
and the present condition and future destinies of 
the fair invalid at the gubernatorial mansion. 

When the landlord entered he quickly demand- 
ed if Doctor Roland had inquired for him during 
the forenoon, and was answered that he had not. 
A servant was despatched with a note to the Doc- 
tor repeating his request for an interview of five 
minutes at the Arms. After he had waited some 
time in the most intense impatience, the servant 
returned with a verbal message stating that the 
doctor would wait on Gen. Bacon immediately. 

‘^From whom did you obtain this answer 
From the porter at the door, sir.’^ 

Very well, you may retire!’’ 

As he sat impatiently listening for the heavy 
footsteps of the doctor, he heard a light fairy foot 
tripping up the stairs toward his room, and in the 
next instant a gentle tap .at the door. His heart 
almost leaped to his mouth as he indistinctly bade 
the applicant to come in. Can it be possible,” 
said he to himself, that Virginia has escaped from 
her jailers? Was the story of her illness but an 
invention of the Governor’s ?” 

Before he had answered these questions to his 
own satisfaction, the door was suddenly thrust 
backward and Harriet Harrison stood before him. 

She was pale, agitated, and gasping for breath, 
as she threw herself unasked into a seat. Bacon 


66 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


was from his previous emotions scarcely mor^- 
composed, and his heart beat tumultuously against 
his doublet, as he endeavoured vainly to offer the 
courtesies due to her sex and standing. 

“ Oh, Mr. Bacon (gasped the agitated girl) 
‘‘ fly for your life.’^ 

On what account, my dear young lady 
Pll tell you as quick as I can. I had just ob- 
tained admission to-day to Virginia’s rbom for 
the first time, when, after having spent the time, 
and more, allotted to me by the doctor, as I was 
coming down the stairs I had to pass the door of 
Sir William’s library, and I accidentally overheard 
him giving orders to an oflicer to collect some 
soldiers from the barracks and make you a pri- 
soner in this house. How he knew you were here 
I know not ; but I was no sooner out of the door 
than I flew to the back court below, demanded of 
the servant holding your horse to point out your 
room, and rushed in in this strange manner to put 
you on your guard. Now, fly for your life^ — you 
have not a moment to lose !” 

“ One word of Virginia, your fair friend, and I 
am gone. Will she survive ? Is her reason un- 
settled ? Does she believe the strange story of the 
Recluse ?” 

“In a word then, she is better — of sound mind, 
and in her heart does not believe one word of that 
story, though sober reason is strangely perplexed. 

“ One word more, and I have done. Does she 
inquire for me ?’^ 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 6T 

The very first word she said to me was, ‘ Does 
Nathaniel believe it ?’ Now go, while yet you may. 
Should any new emergency arise in your absence 
I will despatch a courier after you.’’ 

‘‘Yet one message to Virginia. Tell her that 
I have accidentally discovered in the trinket pre- 
served by her father, and worn by me in the days 
of my infancy, the likeness of her whom I have 
every reason to believe my mother. Tell her not 
to hope too sanguinely, but to give that circum- 
stance its weight, and. trust to the developments of 
time ; and now I commit you both, my dearest 
friends, to the protection of an overruling Provi- 
dence; farewell.” 

With these parting words he rushed down stairs, 
mounted his fleet charger, and swiftly left the court 
just as the Governor’s emissaries entered the front 
porch of the house to arrest him. 

Harriet drew her veil closely over her face, and 
almost as fleetly sought her father’s dwelling. 

Our hero in a very few minutes placed the river 
which separates the island from the main land be- 
tween him and his pursuers. The sun was yet 
above the western horizon, and the clouds which 
spread in fleecy and stationary masses, were tinted 
with the softest hues of the violet and the rose, 
filling the mind with pleasing images of repose, 
cheerfulness, and hope. These soothing and de- 
lightful influences of the summer evening were in 
a great measure lost however upon our hero as he 


68 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


pursued his solitary way through the unbroken fo- 
rest in the immediate footsteps of the army. 

Besides the inevitable suspense attending the 
developments of his own origin and destiny — there 
were immediate anticipations before him of no 
pleasing character. He had just assumed the re- 
sponsibilities of an office, which at the very outset 
was attended with the most painful embarrassments. 
His keen military eye ran over the ground occu- 
pied by the enemies of his country, and perceived 
at once that to make his enterprise completely and 
permanently successful, the savages must be driven 
entirely from the peninsula. 

The very first on the list of these nations was 
the Chickahominy, at the head of which was the 
youthful queen, who had so lately perilled her 
life and her authority for his own salvation from 
the tortures of her countrymen. His decisive and 
energetic mind perceived the stern necessity 
which existed of driving these melancholy relics 
of once powerful nations far distant from the 
haunts of the white man. The question was not 
now presented to his mind, whether a foreign na- 
tion should land upon the shores of these aboriginal 
possessors. That question had long since been 
decided. It was now a matter of life or death 
with the European settlers and their descendants 
— ‘a question of existence or no existence — per- 
manent peace or continual murders. The whites 
had tried all the conciliatory measures of which 
they supposed themselves possessed. Peace, after 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 6& 

peace had succeeded to the frequent fires and 
bloodshed of the savages. The calumet had been 
smoked time after time, and hostage after hos- 
tage had been exchanged, yet there was no peace 
and security for the white man. The right of 
the aboriginals to the soil was indeed plain and 
indisputable ; yet now that the Europeans were in 
possession, whether by purchase or conquest, the 
absolute necessity of offensive warfare against them 
was equally plain and unquestioned in his mind. 
These views had been hastily communicated to the 
council of officers held on the banks of the river, at 
the commencement of the march, and unanimous- 
ly concurred in by them. Notwithstanding this 
unanimity of opinion among his associates in com- 
mand, the very first duty which presented itself 
in accordance with these views, harrowed his feel- 
ings in the most painful manner. His imagination 
carried him forward to the succeeding morning-, 
when his followers would in all probability be car- 
rying fire and sword into the heart of the settle- 
ment ruled by his preserver. As the refined and 
feeling surgeon weeps in secret over the necessity 
of a painful and dangerous operation upon a deli- 
cate female friend, yet subdues his feelings and 
steels his nerves for the approaching trial, so our 
youthful commander silenced the rising weakness 
in his heart, and urged his steed still deeper into 
the forest. He determined to temper and soften 
stern necessity with humanity. 

A few hours’ ride brought him up with the 


70 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


baggage and artillery of the army. The sun had 
already gone down, but a brilliant starlight, and 
a balmy and serene air revived his drooping spirits, 
as he swiftly passed these lumbering appendages. 

Scarcely had he placed himself at the head of the 
marching column, and perceived that the flower 
and chivalry of his command — the mounted Ca- 
valiers, were still in advance of him, before the 
sharp quick report of their firearms was heard at 
some three quarters of a mile distance in advance. 
These were quickly Succeeded by the savage war- 
whoop, and in a few moments a bright red column 
of fire and smoke shot up towards the heavens 
immediately in front. His spurs were dashed into 
his charger’s flanks, and he flew through the fit- 
fully illuminated forest toward a gently swelling 
hill from beyond which the light seemed to pro- 
ceed. 

When he had gained this eminence, a sight 
greeted his eyes which awakened all the tenderest 
sympathies of his nature. Orapacs, the sole re- 
maining village of the Chickahominies — the scene 
of his late tortures — as well as his preservation, 
was wrapped in flames. Ever and anon a terrified 
or wounded savage came darting through the fo- 
rest heedless alike of him and of the martial sounds 
in his rear. He reined up his courser on the 
summit and sadly viewed the scene. 

His commands were no longer necessary for the 
existing emergency. The deed, for which he had 
been so laboriously and studiously preparing hk 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


71 


mind was done. The royal wigwam, the very 
scene of his shelter, and of Wyanokee’s hospitality^ 
was already enveloped by the devouring element. 
A few struggling and desperate warriors still kept 
up the unequal contest, but in a few moments, even 
the despairing yells of these were hushed in the 
cold and everlasting silence of death. Painfully 
and intently he gazed upon the crumbling walls of 
the once peaceful home of his Indian friend. He 
could perceive no appearance of the unfortunate 
queen. His imagination immediately conjured 
up the image of the heroic maiden, her form bleed- 
ing and mutilated as it lay among the last defend- 
ers of the land of her fathers. By a singular 
sophistry of the mind, he consoled himself by the 
reflection, that the orders had not proceeded from 
his lips — that his hand had no part in the matter, 
although he had himself laid down the plan of the 
campaign, of which the scene before him was the 
first result. True, he had mentioned no exact 
time for the accomplishment of this measure, and 
the ardour of his young companions in arms had 
outstripped his own intentions; nevertheless, the 
design was his, however much he might soothe his 
own feelings by the want of personal participa- 
tion. 

By the time that the infantry and heavy ar- 
tillery had arrived upon the spot occupied by their 
General, the villag^ of Orapacs was a heap of 
smouldering ruins. The scene was again covered 
with darkness, save when it was illuminated at 


72 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


intervals by a fitful gleam, as some quivering ruin 
fell tardily among the smouldering embers of the 
walls which had already fallen. He assumed the 
command of his troops, and marched them into 
the plain between the place they then occupied, 
and the site of the melancholy scene we have de- 
scribed. By his orders also, the trumpets were 
ordered to command the return of the impetuous 
Cavaliers. Dudley and his compatriots soon 
came bounding over the plain, exhilarated with 
the first flush of success, and not a little surprised 
at the cold and respectful salutations which greeted 
them from their commander. Most of them, how- 
ever, were acquainted with his late sufferings and 
feeble bodily health, and to this cause they were 
willing to attribute his present want of enthusiasm. 

Bacon had no sooner issued the necessary orders 
for the night than, taking Dudley by the arm, he 
walked forth into the forest beyond the septinels 
already posted. 

‘‘Tell me, Dudley,’^ (said he in a hurried and 
agitated voice,) “was she slain ?” 

“Was who slain ?” 

“ The queen of these dominions !” 

“ No, I believe not. I think she was borne 
from the scene early in the conflict, by some of 
her tribe.’’ 

“Thank God!” he fervently ejaculated, and 
then addressing himself to his aid, he continued, 
“ Return, Dudley, to the camp — superintend the 
execution of the orders I have issued for our secu* 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


73 


rity, in person, but follow mo not, and suffer no 
'One, either officer or soldier, to approach the ruins. 
I will return in the course of a couple of hours/’ 
Having thus spoken, he suddenly disappeared 
through the forest, and his companion returned to 
the camp. 

With slow and melancholy steps our hero ap> 
proached the late busy and animated scene. The 
beasts of prey were sending up their savage, but 
plaintive notes in horrible unison with his own 
feelihgs. The cool evening breeze fanned the 
dying embers, and occasionally loaded the atmos- 
phere with brilliant showers of sparks and flakes 
of fire. As these rolled over his person and fell 
dead upon his garments, he folded his arms, and 
contemplated the ruins of the wigwam in which 
he had found protection. 

There,” said he, was perhaps the birth- 
place of a hundred monarehs of these forestsi Until 
civilized man intruded upon these dominions, they 
were in their own, and nature’s way, joyous, 
rosperous, and happy. They have resided amidst 
the shades of these venerable trees, perhaps since 
time began! The very waters of the stream bub- 
bling joyously over yonder pebbles, have borrowed 
their name. Where are they all now? The last 
male youth of their kingly line was slain by these 
hands, and the last habitations of his race fired 
and plundered by soldiers owing obedience to my 
commands. The plough and the harrow will soon 
break down alike their hearth-stones and the 
VoL. 11. 7 


74 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


scene of their council fires. Yea, and the very 
monuments of their dead must be levelled to 
meet the ever craving demands of civilized ex- 
istence. But pshaw I is this the preparation to 
steel a s6ldier’s heart, and fire it with military 
ardour and enthusiasm? Let me rather ponder 
upon my own sufierings on this spot. J.iet me 
remember the groans of dying old men, women, 
and children, which rent the air twelve hours* 
since. And above all, let me bear in mind the 
despairing shrieks of her, who was more than a 
mother to me, of her who clothed and fed and 
protected me in infancy. Where is she now?” 

“ She is alive and well!” answered a feeble and 
plaintive voice from the wild flowers and shrub- 
bery which grew upon an earthen monument erect- 
ed to the savage dead. 

‘‘ Who is it that speaks ?” 

“ One that had better have slept with those wh© 
sleep beneath 
“ Wyanokee ?” 

“ Ay, who is left but Wyanokee and these 
mouldering bones beneath, of all the proud race 
that once trod these plains unchallenged, and free 
as the water that bubbles at your feet.^^ 

He approached the rude monument as she spoke. 
It consisted of a grass-grown mount some thirty 
feet in length, by ten in height and breadth, and 
was surmounted by thick clustering briers and 
wild flowers. The youthful queen was sitting 
upon the margin of the tumulus, her head resting 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


75 


«pon her hand, and it in its turn supported on her 
knee. As the officer approached, she stood erect 
upon the mount. Her person was clad and orna- 
mented much as when he had last seen her, except 
that above one shoulder protruded a richly carved 
unstrung bow, and from the other, a quiver of 
feather-tipped arrows crossing the bow near her 
waist. The soldier replied. 

It is almost useless for me to profess now, how 
wholly, how profoundly, I sympathize with you 
in witnessing this scene of desolation. Naught 
but the dictates of inevitable necessity could have 
induced the army under my command to perpe- 
trate this melancholy devastation. But , I trust 
that the soothing influences of time, your own 
good sense, and the ministrations of your kind 
white friends, will reconcile you to these stern 
decrees of fate.’’ 

Kind indeed is the white man’s sympathy — 
very kind. He applies the torch to the wigwam 
of his red friend, shoots at his women and children 
as they run from the destruction within, and then 
he weeps over the ruins which his own hands 
have made.” 

It is even so, Wyanokee. I do not expect 
you to understand or appreciate my feelings upon 
the instant; but when you are once again peace- 
fully settled at Jamestown with your sorrowing 
young friend, and will cast your eyes over this 
vast and fertile country, and see to what little 
ends its resources are wasted, and on the other 


1 & CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 

hand, what countless multitudes are driven hither 
by the crowded state of other parts of the worldy 
you will begin to see the necessity which is driv- 
ing your red brethren to the far west. You can 
then form some conception of the now unseen 
power behind, which is urging them forward. You 
will see the great comprehension and sublime spec-= 
tacle of God’s political economy I you will see it 
In its beauty and its justice. You feel the partial 
and limited effects of these sw’elling waves of the 
great creation now upon yourself and your nation.^ 
I grant they are hard to be borne, but once place 
yourself above these personal considerations, and 
compare the demands of a world with the handful 
of warriors lying dead around those ruins, and you 
will bow to the justice of the decree which ha& 
gone forth against your people 1” 

Does your Great Spirit then only care for the 
good of his white children 1 You taught me to 
believe that he too created the red men, and 
placed them upon these hunting grounds, that he 
cared as much for them as he did for their white 
brethren — but now it seems he is angry with the 
poor red man, because he liv^es and hunts as he 
was taught, by the Great Spirit himself. These 
hunting grounds are now wanted for his other 
children, and those to whom be first gave them^ 
must not only yield them up, but they must be 
driven by the fire and the thunder, and the long 
knives of those who have been professing then^- 
selves our brethren.” 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 7T 

Your view of the case is a very natural and 
plausible one, yet it seems to me you have over- 
looked that point in it, upon which the whole 
matter turns. Let us for one moment grant the 
necessity of making room on your hunting grounds 
for your white brethren, who are crowded out of 
the older countries. There seemed at first no 
need to disturb the red men, there was room 
enough here for all, we were content to live upon 
this kind and neighbourly footing. Had your 
brethren been equally content, the great purposes 
of the Creator would have been answered with- 
out any destruction of his red or white children. 
Have the red men so demeaned themselves to- 
ward the whites that we could all dwell here to- 
gether? Let the massacre of last night speak! 
You point to yonder smouldering ruins and bloody 
corpses. I point to the bleeding bodies of my 
countrymen and friends, and their 3emolished 
dwellings as the, cause — the direct cause of the' 
desolation you behold.” 

‘‘The white man talks very fast — and very well 
— he talks for the Great Spirit and himself too; but 
who talks for the poor red man, but Wyanokee.. 
All you say is very good for the white men 
upon our hunting grounds, and the white men 
driven from over the great waters, and for the 
white men left behind. It leaves room to hunt and 
plant corn there for the white men, and- finds room 
here to hunt and plant corn, but you do not give 
the poor red man any hunting ground,. You say 


78 CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 

we must go to the far west, but how long will it 
be the far west ? How many of your white friends 
are coming over the big waters ? How far is this 
place, where the red man will not be driven from 
his new hunting ground ? If we cannot live and 
smoke the calumet of peace together, we must have 
separate hunting grounds/ Where are our hunt- 
ing grounds? Ah, I see your eye reaches where the 
clouds and the blue mountains come together — to 
the end of the world, we must go, like those beneath 
us to the hunting grounds of tho' Great Spirit.” 

‘‘Not so, Wyanokee, we would willingly spare 
the effusion of blood, and when our arms have 
taught the men who assembled here two days ago, 
our firm determination always to avenge the mur- 
der of our friends and the plunder of their property, 
it is our intention to propose a fair and permanent 
peace. We will endeavour to convince them of 
the necessity of abandoning for ever the country 
between these two great rivers, and moving their 
hunting grounds where the interests of the two 
races cannot come in conflict.” 

“ 0 yes, you will run the long knives through 
their bodies, and then smoke the calumet! You 
will drive us from our homes, and then you will 
persuade us to give them up to the white man.” 

“ You are not now in a proper mood to reason 
upon this subject calmly, my gentle friend, nor do 
I wonder at it; but the time will come when your 
views of this matter will be similar to my own.” 

“No, Wyanokee cannot see through the white 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


79 


man’s eyes; she has not yet learned to forget her 
kindred and her country. She came here to-night 
to sit upon the graves of the great hunters and 
warriors who slept here with their calumets and 
tomahawks beside them, long before the long 
knives came among us. She will carry away from 
this place to night, this little flower planted by, 
her own hands over the graves of her fathers and 
brothers. She would leave it here to spread its 
flowers over their ancient war paths and their 
graves, but even these silent and peaceful bones,, 
and these harmless flowers must share the fate of 
them who buried the one and planted the other. 
Wyanokee will never see this place more — never 
again be near the bones of her fathers, until she 
meets them all at the hunting ground of the Great 
Spirit. Farewell, home and country and friends, 
and fare thee well, ungrateful man : when next the 
Indian maiden steps between thee and the toma- 
hawk of her countrymen repay not her kindness 
with the torch tp her wigwam and the long knifp 
to her heart.” 

With these bitter words of parting, she descend-? 
ed from the mound with dignity, and disappeared 
through the forest, notwithstanding the urgent en- 
treaties of Bacon, that she would return. She 
gave no other evidence of heeding him than turn- 
ing back the palm of her hand toward him, and 
leaning her head in the opposite direction, as if 
she were exorcising an evil spirit, He, made no 


80 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


other attempt to stay her progress ; once indeed 
the thought occurred to him to hail the sentinel 
and arrest her for her own sake, but the idea was 
as speedily abandoned. He determined to leave 
her destiny wholly in the hands of him who first 
decreed it. For a moment he ascended the mount 
and cast his eye over the wide-spread and melan- 
choly desolation, and then rapidly retraced hia 
steps to the camp. When there, his first orders 
were to have the slain warriors of the expatriated 
tribes, buried in the tomb of their forefathers, 
while his own personal attention was bestowed 
upon the condition of the prisoners taken during 
the demolition of the village. 

They sat round the tents appropriated to their 
use, in stern and sullen dignity. Wounded or 
whole, no sound escaped their lips; and their 
food and drink remained untouched before them. 
They noticed the entrance of the commander ia 
chief no more than if he had been an insignifi- 
cant creeping reptile of the earth ; no signs of 
recognition lighted up their features, though most 
or all of them must have been present at the 
scene of his own tortures. While Bacon stood no 
unmoved spectator of the calm unshaken forti- 
tude with which they bore their misfortunes, an 
incident occurred that served to exhibit the stern 
qualities of their pride in still bolder relief. One 
of the old warriors had been taken while attempt- 
ing to escape with one of his children, after hav-. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


81 


ing fought until there was not a vestige of hope 
remaining for the preservation of his people and 
their homes. He was brought into the camp, 
together with his child. While the prisoners 
were all sitting round in sullen dignity, and the 
general of the invading army stood surveying 
them as we have mentioned, thisjittle child came 
entreatingly to its father’s knees, and begged for 
the food which stood untouched before his face. 
He made no verbal reply — a momentary weakness 
softened his countenance as he gazed into the face 
of the tender petitioner, but in the next, he raised 
his tomahawk and sank it deep into the brain of 
his child before any one could arrest his arm. The 
innocent and unconscious victim fell without a 
groan or struggle, and the stern old warrior rein- 
serted the handle of his weapon in his belt, crossed 
his arms upon his breast, and resumed his former, 
attitude of immobility. Bacon gazed at him in 
astonishment and horror for an instant, and then 
wheeled suddenly round to retire from an exhibi- 
tion of humanity, so rude, ferocious, and appalling. 
But as he was about to emerge from the portal 
of the tent, Wyanokee was rudely thrust into the 
door, and they stood face to face. 

His first impulse was to draw his sword, and 
rush upon the two soldiers who had guarded the 
prisoner, but a moment’s reflection served to re- 
mind him that they had but obeyed his own general 
orders. He returned the half drawn weapon there-^ 


82 CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 

fore, and stood an embarrassed spectator of the 
captive maiden’s searching glances, as her eye» 
wandered around the room, first resting upon her 
unfortunate companions in captivity, next upon 
the corpse of the slain infant, and lastly upon the 
commander himself. He had seen her previously 
when her subdued manners and lady-like deport- 
ment, inclined him in communing with her to for- 
get her Indian origin, but he saw her now with all 
her native impulses roused to their highest tension. 
Her eye flashed fire as it rested upon him after 
completing her survey, and she thus addressed him, 
stepping a few paces backward, while her person 
was drawn up to its utmost height, and her bosom 
heaved with struggling emotions. 

Are you the same person who sometime since 
undertook to inspire noble sentiments into the 
mind of the purest being that ever honoured a 
white skin ? Are you the same youth who aspired 
to her hand and renounced it on the marriage 
night, because of kindred blood ? Are you the 
youth whose fair and deceitful form, and apparent- 
ly noble nature, once made Wyanokee look with 
contempt upon this heroic race of warriors ] If 
the form, the person be the same, the Great Spirit 
of evil has poisoned the fountains of your heart, 
and turned your goodness and -your honour to 
cruelty and cunning. How far has the great light 
gone down behind the sea, since you stood upon 
the ruins of all that Wyanokee loved, and profess- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 83 

ed sorrow for their destruction, and sympathy in 
her misfortunes ? When you stood before her, 
and dared not lay your own hands upon her per- 
son ! — you could leave her untouched upon the 
grave of her great warriors — you dared not seek 
to injure her, lest their spirits should return from 
the happy hunting ground and kill you on the 
spot. But you could deceitfully order these poor 
long knives to stand in her path and prevent her 
from taking the last look, and heaving the last 
sigh that should ever be looked and uttered in 
these forests.’^ 

“ I gave no orders for your arrest, Wyanokeej 
I have not spoken to the sentinels since I saw 
you 

But you could stand and mourn with Wyan- 
okee over the ashes of her fathers’ wigwam, 
when you had just come from ordering these to 
carry her into captivity. They told me them- 
selves that they acted by your orders. Oh how 
cruel, how deceitful is the white man ! He glad- 
dens the poor Indian’s eyes with his glittering toys, 
till he cheats him of all the corn laid up for his 
squaws during the winter. He smokes the calu- 
met with the chiefs, while his own followers are 
burning down the houses of their nation. You, 
sir, redeemed Wyanokee' from captivity, to carry 
her into a more galling bondage. You taught her 
the knowledge of the white man, only that she 
might multiply her sorrows, when this long fore- 
seen night should come. Was it for this that she 


S4 CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 

redeemed you from the red hot tortures of these 
chiefs? Did you come upon their hunting ground 
to learn how to torture in preparation for this oc- 
casion, and trusting to Wyanokee’s soft and fool- 
ish heart for your safe return? Lead them and her 
to the stake! we will show the white warrior how 
to endure the tortures of our enemies without 
fainting like women.’’ 

“You will not listen to me, Wyanokee, else I 
could have told you long ago, that I had given no 
orders to the sentinels. We do not desire your 
captivity? you are free to go now whithersoever 
you choose, provided you keep beyond the range 
of our sentinels. What our race has done against 
yours, has only been done to protect their own 
lives and property, and to make that protection 
secure and permanent. You know that we never 
torture prisoners; when the war is ended and peace 
obtained, these warriors shall go free and unharm- 
ed. I see that they have refused to touch their 
food, under the belief that they are to suffer, but 
I will leave you to undeceive them, after which you 
are free to go or to remain. If the latter be your 
choice, a tent shall be provided for your sole ac- 
commodation.” 

Having thus spoken, he hastily left the tent and 
sought the marqu6e occupied by the higher grade 
of officers and the more aristocratic of the Cavaliers. 
Gay sounds of song and minstrelsy greeted his ears 
as he approached the spot — Bacchanalian scraps 
promiscuously chimed in chorus with more sen- 


(CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


85 


^imehtal ditties, and all occasionally drowned in 
boisterous shouts of laughter. These evidences 
of the mood in which he should find his associates 
deterred him from entering, under his present feel- 
ings, and he therefore passed on to his own solitary 
quarters. In a few moments he was extended 
upon such a bed as a camp afibrds, with no exter- 
nal source of interruption to his repose, save the 
distant cries of the wild beasts, and the more mo- 
notonous tread of the sentinel, as ho paced his 
narrow limits in the performance of his duty. 

The sun rose the next morning over the ruins 
of Orapacs and the scene of the late strife in un- 
clouded splendour. The enlivening notes of drums 
and trumpets had long since roused the soldiers 
from their slumbers, and having despatched their 
morning meal, they were speedily forming into 
marching order. The commander of this impos- 
ing little army mounted his charger, and galloped 
along the forming battalions; his eye bright and 
serene, his spirits, in comparison with the previous 
night, bounding and elastic. Having detailed to 
his council of officers his intention of next attack- 
ing the king of Pamunky, the orders for the 
march were given, and the lines wheeled into 
columns, headed by the gay and brilliant cortige 
of youthful Cavaliers. 

The prisoners were marched into the centre of 
the column, and as they assumed their station, the 
general ran his anxious eye eagerly over their 
VoL. II. 8 


86 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


persons, to ascertain whether his former pupil had 
availed herself of the accommodations provided by 
his orders. But no such graceful form greeted 
his sight, and he learned from the Captain of the 
guard that she had departed soon after he had 
himself left the prisoners — entirely alone. A mo - 
mentary sadness shaded his brow, as he reflected 
upon the desolate condition of the Indian maiden, 
but it was soon lost in the absorbing duties of his 
station. 

Toward evening, of the ensuing day, as the army 
pursued their route between the Chiekahominy and 
Pamunky Rivers, the vanguard discovered several 
of the Pamunky tribe, skulking among the trees of 
the forest immediately in advance of them. The 
general^ apprehending an ambuscade, immediately 
ordered the Cavaliers to fall back upon the main 
body of the army, while a practised band of rangers 
were ordered to examine the cover of the wood. 
Scarcely had these orders been transmitted to their 
various destinations, before a bright beacon fire shot 
its spiral column of smoke and flame high above 
the surrounding trees. What this new device por- 
tended the commander could not divine, nor could 
the council, which was immediately summoned, 
give to it a satisfactory interpretation. The Ran- 
gers returned without discovering any signs of an 
ambuscade, though they had penetrated to the 
huge fire which lighted up the forest. Not an 
Indian was to be seen there or beyond. Bacon 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


87 


and his staff rode forward to the scene in person 
— but the aid of a glass enabled him to discover 
nothing more. 

The army was again put in motion, and every 
precaution used which some experience in Indian 
warfare had taught the general was so necessary. 
For miles they proceeded with the most watchful 
caution, until the absence of the undergrowth in 
the forest taught them that it had been fired, and 
thereby disclosed the probability of their being in 
the near neighbourhood of the town of the Pa- 
munkies. The verdant glades were lighted up at 
intervals by broad masses of red light from the 
setting sun, as they fell between the natural in* 
terstices of the trees. The appearance of the wood- 
land vista before them was romantic and pictur- 
esque in the extreme* The forest had the aspect 
of a country which had been settled for ages. The 
venerable trees, surmounted with green and brown 
moss, were now occasionally richly bronzed with 
the rays of the sun as they fell horizontally upon 
their hoary trunks, and the whole more resembled 
an ancient and venerable park, which some wealthy 
gentleman had inherited from careful and provi- 
dent ancestors, than a wild woodland, fresh from 
the hands of nature, in which the woodman’s axe 
had never been heard, and upon which no other 
care or culture had been bestowed than the occa- 
sional torch of the savage. 

They were not left long to revel in these wild 
beauties — a more appalling scene awaited them. 


88 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


The sun was fast declining behind the river hills of 
the Chickahominy and darkness encircling the som- 
bre groves in which they rode, when suddenly a 
hundred fires cast a lurid glare across^ their path,^ 
and the army instinctively halted on beholding the 
town of the Pamunkies wrapped in flames. Again 
they were put in motion, and cautiously approached 
the spot. Bacon fearing that some treachery lurk- 
ed beneath these unexpected measures of the In- 
dians, could scarcely restrain the impetuosity of 
his mounted force, spurred on by curiosity to see 
in what new device of savage warfare they would 
terminate. 

They arrived upon the skirts of the town, how- 
ever, and within the influence of the heat, with- 
out hindrance or adventure; and what no less 
surprised them, not a living creature was percepti- 
ble, around or near the conflagration. 

The first idea that suggested itself to the mind 
of Bacon was, that the savages had, in despair, 
thrown themselves into the burning ruins of their 
own dwellings. He now understood the meaning 
of the beacon light on their route; <Mt was the 
signal for commencing the tragedy,^^ he muttered 
to himself as he reined up his steed and ordering 
his troops to halt, brought them into line along the 
outskirts of the burning village, which, like the one 
they had themselves fired, was constructed upon the 
banks of the Pamunky river. While the troops 
thus stood upon their arms, some of the officers 
rode through the blazing wigwams, very much 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 89 

against the will of their rearing and plunging charg- 
ers. It was completely deserted; but while they 
were consulting upon the measures to be taken, a tu- 
multuous and astounding yell burst suddenly upon 
their startled ears. The intense light of the burn- 
ing village rendered the twilight gloom around as 
dark as midnight by the contrast, and not a savage 
could anywhere be seen. The mounted troop 
made a wide sweep round the alignment, but 
with no better success. Another astounding shout 
of savage voices ascended to the clouds. Many 
of the frail and tottering wigwams tumbled in at 
the same moment — throwing the light in a lower 
line of vision over the water, so that they were 
enabled to discover a large body of mounted Pa- 
munkies drawn up like themselves on the opposite 
bank of the river. Their grim and painted vi- 
sages, close shaven crowns, scalp locks, and gaudy 
feathers, appeared through the medium of the red 
and flickering light reflected from the water, in 
horrible distinctness. A legion of devils from the 
infernal regions, clothed in all the horrors of Ger- 
man poetry, never startled the senses- and aroused 
the imagination more than did this spectacle its 
amazed beholders. With another yell and a flou- 
rish of their tomahawks above their heads, the 
Indians simultaneously wheeled their horses and 
flew over the plain towards the source of the river. 
In a few moments all was silent as death, save the 
crackling of the burning wigwams. The squaws 
and children seemed to have been long since re- 
8 * 


90 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


moved. Again the colonial army — or to speak 
more properly, the army of the people, encamped 
before the ruins of an ancient and venerable settle- 
ment. 

Here were no painful reminiscences for the sen- 
sitive but energetic commander. The savages 
were flying before his as yet scarcely tried army, 
in the very direction in which it was his purpose 
to drive them. He knew them too well to believe 
that the whole peninsula would be thus tamely 
abandoned, and he issued his orders, before lying 
down to rest, for redoubled vigilance through the 
night, and an early march in the morning toward 
the falls of the Powhatan, where he had every 
reason to believe that the tribes of the former con- 
federacy were again drawing to a head. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


91 


CHAPTER VE 


Our hero was not deceived in his supposition^ 
that the savage tribes inhabiting the Peninsula 
would make a desperate effort to retain possession 
of a country so admirably adapted to their mode 
of life. Two noble rivers, one on either hand, 
abounding with a variety offish, and a fertile soil, 
yielding its treasures with little culture, were con- 
siderations in the eyes of these ignorant but not 
misjudging sons of the forest, not to be surrender- 
ed without a struggle. 

As the army of the colonists pursued its march 
toward the point already indicated as the rendez^ 
vous of the again confederated tribes, it was con- 
stantly harassed with alarms — signal fires and fly- 
ing bodies of mounted warriors, first cutting oflf 
their communication with the river — now assail- 
ing the vanguard, and then hovering upon the 
rear. Three weeks and more were thus con- 
sumed in partial and unsatisfactory engagements-; 
the skirmishers first approaching one river, upon 
the representation of some treacherous savage, and 
then hurrying back in the opposite direction to meet 
some illusive demonstration made by the cunning 
enemy. The youthful commander soon perceived 


92 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


that this mode of warfare was the one exactly suit- 
ed to the nature and condition of his foes, and the 
least adapted to the impetuous courage of his own 
troops. He saw too, that the savages had lha 
double design of wearying out their invaders in 
the manner we have described, and of collecting 
and concentrating their forces, at some point where 
their own mode of warfare could be rendered avail- 
able, without exposing themselves to the destruc- 
tive discharges of artillery which they still held 
in superstitious terror. A very little reflection 
satisfied him that there would be no immedi- 
ate danger in pursuing the direct route between the 
Powhatan and Chickahominy rivers, toward the 
falls of the former,, where he had already some in- 
timation that the enemy were collecting in great 
force. He was well satisfied that the tribes already 
dislodged had removed all their winter provisions, 
and their wigwams being destroyed, there could 
be little hazard to the city in disregarding their 
daily demonstrations in his front, flank, and 
rear. Accordingly his troops were concentrated 
in a solid column, and marched directly toward the 
falls, entirely disregarding the petty annoyances 
which had already detained them so ingloriously 
in the Peninsula. 

AVhile they were marching toward the scene of 
the great and final struggle for supremacy between 
their own race and the Aborigines, in this narrow 
neck of land, which had so long been the scene of 
contention, we will retrace our steps for a short 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


9S 

space, in order to bring up the proceeditigs at 
Jamestown to the point at which we have just ar- 
rived. 

In doing so, however, it is not our intention to 
fatigue the reader with a minute account of the 
long and tedious days, and still more wretched 
nights, spent by our heroine after the shock given 
to her delicate constitution by the painful and un- 
expected adventure in the chapel, and by the sub- 
sequently reported death of her mother under pe- 
culiarly awful and afflicting circumstances. The 
reader has doubtless more truly imagined her con- 
dition during the first paroxysms of the fever, 
than we could describe it. Down to the time when 
her favourite and confidant was permitted to enter, 
her room, the daily occurrences of her yet endan- 
gered life were sad and monotonous enough, but 
the paramount cravings of diseased nature once 
assuaged, her mental excitement once more rose in 
the ascendant. Not that her reason ever became 
deranged, except from violent febrile action during 
the height of the attack ; however feeble her phy- 
sical organization, her mental powers were clear 
and unclouded, and her spirits, though of necessity 
somewhat broken, were firm and elastic. The 
truth is, that she did not believe the assertion of 
the Recluse by which the nuptial ceremony was 
so dreadfully interrupted. She had indeed a feel- 
ing of superstitious reverence for whatever came 
from his lips, but she had also seen the wild fir© 
of his eye when under deep excitement, and she 


94 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


did not therefore give implicit confidence to any 
declaration he should make. 

This questioning of his oracular authority was 
an after-consideration it is true, and was itself 
prompted by other feelings, having their founda^ 
tion in the affections of the heart. She could not 
believe that her lover was her own brother ; her 
feelings toward him were peculiar — powerful, and 
different from the love of mere kindred. Besides, 
there were little almost undefinable circumstances 
in the intercourse of their halcyon days, which 
she did not believe, could in the nature of man, 
have taken place between brother and sister. She 
most truly thought that her lover and herself were 
expressly created for each other ; that their union 
had been decreed in heaven. That in the first 
dawnings of their mutual understanding of each 
other, there had been electrical, spiritual and ever 
sublime transmissions of mutual intelligence and 
exquisite pleasure, which could not exist between 
children of the same parents. These were some 
of the leasonings which first fed her to doubt the 
infallibility of the Recluse, or rather this was 
something like the process by which she arrived 
at firm and undoubting conviction. She viewed 
the case in this light from the very first moment 
of unclouded perception, but at first it was a wild 
tumultuous and suffocating mixture of vague per- 
ceptions, and scarcely permitted hopes. As she 
gradually analyzed her feelings, and examined the 
reasons for her convictions, the truth dawned 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


95 


more and more clearly upon her view. She wag 
one clay sitting, propped up on her couch, during 
the three weeks in which Bacon was engaged in 
his Indian campaign, the doctor sitting by her 
side with his finger upon her pulse. Both were 
silent and abstracted. The pale beautiful counte- 
nance of the invalid was fixed in deep and earnest 
thought. Her eyes wandered through an open 
window, and sought a resting place upon some 
sunny spot of green and refreshing nature. Her 
lips moved just perceptibly, as if she were convers- 
ing with some one in an under tone. At length she 
slightly raised her head, her eyes sparkled with the 
brilliancy of stars, waxing brighter and brighter, 
and her head rising higher and higher from her 
pillow, until she screamed in wild delight, “ The 
light of heaven and love’s inspiration itself declare 
it false.” 

The doctor rose with a grave and anxious look, 
and placing one hand upon her shoulders, and with 
the other removing the pillows that supported 
her, laid her gently down, sayihg, 

“ 1 fear there is more excitement about your 
head to-day, my dear young lady ; if it continues 
you must lose blood again.” 

‘‘ Oh, dear doctor, there is indeed excitement 
about my head and my heart too, but it is not the 
excitement of fever; or if it is, it is a dear delight- 
ful fever, which I trust in God will never leave 
me, for it came just now wafted on my brain as if 
by the music of the spheres.” 


96 CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 

Your room must be darkened again^ and the 
Isold applications to your head repeated.’’ 

“ You think I am losing my senses again, dear 
doctor, but I assure you I am just regaining them, 
as I will show you from this time forward. I 
have now done with physic. I have a medicine 
here,” (and she laid her hand upon- her heart, 
while a bewitching smile played around her 
mouth, that staggered the good doctor,) “ which 
ia worth more to me than all the costly drugs of 
India, or the islands of the sea.” 

And the event justified her words. Her mind 
was no sooner settled in deep conviction, and her 
heart comparatively at ease, than she began rapid- 
ly to recover. It was some days before the scene 
just related, when Harriet Harrison was admitted 
to her presence, and when, as the reader has al- 
ready learned from that maiden herself, Virginia 
propounded to her the questions touching her 
lover’s belief in their reported relationship, which 
were repeated by Miss Harrison to Bacon. 

So long as that interview continued between the 
two intimates, untramelled by the presence of a 
third person, it was one of deep interest ; but un- 
fortunately the heir of the house had too much 
reason to suspect that Harriet’s feelings were en- 
gaged in another’s interest, long to indulge them 
with an unbroken interview. Virginia barely 
had time to ask those questions, and whisper to 
her friend the tidings of her own dawning hopes, 
before the doctor entered, attended to the door 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGLNIA. 


97 


as Harriet perceived through the partial opening, 
by Frank Beverly himself ; she therefore took her 
leave, promising a speedy return. 

As she retired from the chamber of the invalid 

j 

she accidentally overheard the Governor’s orders 
for Bacon’s arrest, the result of which has already 
been related. Her next visit to the house was on 
the day of the scene between the doctor and his 
patient, which we have just attempted to describe. 
She was ushered into the room of state, usually 
occupied by the Governor for the reception of his 
most distinguished guests. No formality was 
neglected in duly receiving her at the door, and 
conducting her to this presence chamber of his 
Excellency, by the official who acted as master of 
ceremonies. 

I have no business of state to communicate to 
the Governor, Sir Porter; Icame to see his niece!’’ 
The porter bowed profoundly as he replied, 
But his Excellency has some business with you, 
madam, as he informed me, when he directed me 
to usher you into this apartment.” Another pro- 
found inclination followed, with an accompaniment 
of rubbing hands and shuffling his feet backward ; 
while the arch, but somewhat alarmed and astonish- 
ed maiden, was left to con her speech to the Gover- 
nor at her leisure. After a most tedious interval 
of half an hour, the formal representative of ma- 
jesty made his appearance, with such a profusion 
of bows that his merry master himself would have 
smiled to witness them. Of course Harriet bit her 
VoL. II. 9 


98 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


lips in order to restrain their mirthful inclinations* 
While the old knight drew a chair, and after sun- 
dry hems and stroking his chin, thus gravely 
addressed her : “ I am informed, Madam, that 

you are desirous of an interview with me ; will 
you be so good as to enlighten me as to the cause 
of the unexpected honour ?” 

“ Some one must have deceived you with a most 
egregious story. Sir William. 1 desired no such 
thing. I came here to see my friend, Virginia Fair- 
fax.^’ 

‘‘ I am exceedingly pained to inform you. Miss 
Harriet, that from certain late circumstances, which 
it is needless to particularize, and in which you 
were somewhat a participator, I, as Virginia’s na- 
tural guardian, have thought proper to end the in- 
tercourse between you at once. My niece is des- 
tined soon to become the wife of my young kins- 
man, Beverly, and it is most prudent to keep her 
from the sight of such persons and things as might 
remind her of that most strange and disgraceful 
transaction of which I will not speak more openly. 
I am very sorry to give you pain, but there was 
no other course left for me to pursue than to be 
plain and candid with you.” 

“ And does this marriage take place with Vir- 
ginia’s consent ?” 

“ She has not been consulted as yet; her health, 
in the first place, did not admit of it, and in the 
second, the evidence which she so lately gave o 
being utterly incapable of choosing a husband cal- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


99 


culated to secure her own happiness, or reflect 
honour upon her family and connexions, has caused 
that duty to devolve on me.” 

“ But, Sir William, suppose she should refuse 
to accept the husband of your choice ? You cer- 
tainly will not enforce your determination.” 

“ Her lamented father and myself entered long 
since into a covenant by which these young people 
were to be united. On the very morning of his 
death, we talked the matter over ; /he freely and 
fully consented to the completion of the engage- 
ment, and forthwithf it shall be carried into execu- 
tion, if sufficient authority remains to me in these 
turbulent and rebellious times to enforce it.” 

But you will give her time to assuage her 
grief, and make up her mind to the lot which 
awaits her. You surely will not precipitate her 
into the celebration of these nuptials ?” 

“ You talk, young lady, as if it were some hor- 
rible and revolting monster to whom I intended 
uniting her, instead of the presumptive heir and 
nearest kinsman of Sir William Berkley, well 
favoured and highly accomplished, as you must 
acknowledge that he is. She has had time 
enough to recover her equanimity, and as soon 
as her health is equally restored i the ceremo- 
ny shall be performed; and whether or not, it 
is my purpose to complete it before the return of 
that arch-rebel Bacon to the city. Please God, 
however, I intend he shall return in irons to un- 


100 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


dergo the penalty demanded by th^ outraged laws 
of his country.” 

‘‘And you will not permit me to see my friend 
for five minutes — only five minutes 

“No! lady, you are now advised of my inten- 
tions touching the disposal of my niece, and you 
may readily comprehend the reasons of your ex- 
clusion from her presence, without my entering 
into further and more painful explanations.’^ 

With this answer, Harriet was compelled to be 
content, and therefore making a reverence, more 
than usually formal, to his Excellency, she with- 
drew. It was not in her nature, however, to re- 
sign her friend to the fate which threatened her, 
without an eflbrt to relieve her. From the guber- 
natorial mansion she immediately hastened in pur- 
suit of O’Reily, in order to despatch him with a 
communication for his master. But Brian was no- 
where to be found; her own researches and those 
of the servant whom she despatched in pursuit of 
him were of no effect; she was therefore compell- 
ed to entrust her message to one of her father’s 
negroes, who was well mounted, and despatched 
upon his errand, within less than two hours from 
the time of her interview with his Excellency. 

During the absence of the army in the Penin- 
sula, Sir William Berkley had not been idle, as 
has already been intimated. The commands borne 
by his couriers to those Cavaliers throughout the 
colony, who were yet well affected to his govern- 
ment, began now to bring them in from all direc- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


101 


lions, and the regular soldiers stationed at the forts, 
which were so offensive to the citizens, were 
marching rapidly upon the capital from every quar- 
ter. Some had already arrived, and the city was 
once more thronged with eager faces. Sounds 
of martial music were again heard through the 
streets, and the more quiet citizens again disturbed 
with the stern preparations for war. 

The present military and Cavalier assemblages 
in the capital were, however, of a very different 
political character, and brought together with 
very different motives from those which had pre- 
ceded them. They were not less in numbers, 
spirit and appointments; but their object was not 
to cope with the savage — it was to measure arms 
in deadly strife with their own countrymen and 
fellow-citizens. The army now assembling, was 
intended by the Governor to suppress what he 
called the rebellion, and his purpose was, as soon as 
his forces should all arrive, to march at once to the 
Falls of the Powhatan, and* while the popular army 
were engaged in front with the savage enemies of 
their country, to fall upon their rear, and either 
cut them in pieces, or compel them to surrender 
as rebels found bearing arms against his majesty^s 
authority in the colony. 

Seldom have political parties of any country 
presented so strange an aspect as did those of Vir- 
ginia at this period. First, the people of the city 
had been divided between the Cavaliers and Rounc^- 
heads. The latter were no sooner brought into 
9 * 


102 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


complete subjection, than a new amalgamation 
took place, by which their distinctive character 
was lost. Then, growing out of the puerile ob- 
stinacy of Sir William Berkley, in refusing to repel 
the incursions of the Indians merely because he 
had at first maintained that there was no danger 
to be apprehended from their hostility, the ])opu- 
lar or conservative party sprang into existence. 
Against these were now arrayed the loyalist fac- 
tion, and most of those descended from noble an- 
cestors or bearing titles, headed by the Governor 
himself. 

In a very few days this latter party had assem- 
bled their whole military force in the city, and 
the most active preparations were made to march 
against Bacon and his followers who were carrying 
fire and sword into the very heart of the country 
occupied by the real enemies of the colony. 

The temporary duties of the government were 
resigned into the hands of Sir H. Chicherley, 
while Sir William Berkley, Sir Herbert Jeffries, 
Francis Beverly, Philip Ludwell, and their com- 
peers, assumed the most important stations of com- 
mand in the army of the loyalists. Much thelarger 
portion of the regular troops were composed of 
foreign mercenaries, sent over from England to 
perform those very duties which Bacon and his 
' followers were now to be punished for assuming. 
The very soldiers who ought to have protected the 
whites against the incursions of the Indians were 
to be turned against the patriot band which had 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


103 


volunteered ta perform a service no longer to be 
deferred with safety to the colony. It is true that 
the commissions of Bacon and his officers were not 
legally signed by the constituted authorities; but 
an emergency had arisen which, threw the citizens 
back at once upon their original rights and pow- 
ers. The government having failed to afford 
them protection for their lives and property, they 
had assumed that office for themselves. This was 
the condition of the colony at the juncture of 
which we write. 

While Sir Willianl and his coadjutors were thus 
busily collecting and disciplining their forces, the 
citizens of the capital were not uninterested spec- 
tators of this unwonted succession of military pre- 
parations. Most of those remaining in the city 
had friends and relations in the ranks of the popu- 
lar army, and though they dared not onenly ex- 
press their disapprobation of the Governor’s pro- 
ceedings, their discontent was deep and settled, 
and only awaited the departure of tlie present over- 
powering force, again to burst into open resistance 
against the government. 

While these preparations for civil strife were 
going on in the streets of the city, a discussion of 
not less interesting import to some of the leading 
characters of our story, was carried on within the 
walls of the Governor’s mansion. The stout old 
Cavalier had fixed upon the day preceding the de- 
parture of his army,, for the solemnization of the 


104 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


marriage between his niece and his kinsman Be- 
verly. He had himself held several interviews 
with the former, but had failed to make the least 
impression on her mind, either by his reasoning or 
his more artful appeals to her filial duty and afiec- 
tions. 

In vain had he detailed her father’s plans and 
expectations. In vain had he appealed to her love 
and respect for his memory. In vain had he de- 
scended from his dignity to reproach her with the 
late disastrous occurrence at the chapel. In vain 
had he coarsely charged her with desiring an alli- 
ance, contrary alike to the laws of God and man. 
She was deaf to his arguments and his threats. 
But the time approached with fearful rapidity, 
which he had appointed for the ceremony. The 
intended bridegroom held an important command 
in the expedition now preparing, and it was Sir 
William’s intention that he should be married and 
set out on the succeeding morning. Notwithstand- 
ing our heroine’s apparent firmness, therefore, in 
presence of her stern relative, every note of pre- 
paration which was wafted into her chamber sent 
the blood oppressively to her heart. Her naturally 
mild and gentle nature shrunk from the contem- 
plation of the violence which her fears and her 
knowledge of her kinsman induced her to believe 
would be used to overcome her resolution. 

His pretended dread of the disgrace which he 
charged her with desiring to bring upon his family 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


105 


she knew was exactly the apology he wanted for 
the arbitrary measures necessary to the completion 
of the plan. 

She was alone in the world. No one now stood 
ready to give her rescue from the relentless hands 
which placed restraint upon her inclinations. Her 
nearest kindred had, as she believed, fallen by the 
savage tomahawk, and her only remaining relative 
was about to force her into a marriage which she 
detested. Notwithstanding all these depressing 
circumstances, her elastic mind and sanguine tem- 
perament had hitherto risen above the accumulat- 
ing weight of her misfortunes. She had still pre- 
served the vague yet constant hope, so natural to 
youth, that some fortunate occurrence, some unex- 
pected accident would yet take place to mar the 
well laid plans of the Governor. But as the time 
approached, and the preparations moved steadily 
forward without any evidence of coming succour, 
or the fortunate event which was to release her 
from her dreadful situation, her heart began to 
misgive her — she was compelled in some measure 
to assume an humbler posture towards the stern 
old man in whose hands her destiny seemed 
placed. Her ingenuity had turned the subject 
in all its various aspects — every chance of es- 
cape was provided against. Even the presence 
of her friend Harriet, upon which she had found- 
ed most of her hopes, was rigidly and persever- 
ingly denied to her. As a last and desperate 


106 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


resort, she humbly supplicated her uncle for an 
uninterrupted interview with him to whom he 
purposed to marry her ; and Sir William seeing 
nothing in this request calculated to defeat his 
plans, but on the contrary hoping that it proceeded 
from a wavering resolution, granted the request. 

She sat upon a large leathern-backed chair, her 
head leaning upon the v^rindow sill, and her flaxen 
ringlets clustering around her pale and attenuated, 
but still beautiful features. Her roht de chamber 
was white and simple in its fashion, and her hands 
were listlessly and languidly twined into its folds, 
seeming, every now and then, as if her delicate 
fingers would pierce the yielding texture. A 
solitary tear seemed as if it had already departed 
from its pure fountain, as tremblingly it hung upon 
the long dewy eyelash, the mere closing of which 
dissipated it into a thin misty veil of sadness to 
her liquid melancholy blue eye, as it was turned in 
fearful expectation towards the door. 

At length Beverly entered. She had until 
this moment strenuously resisted all endeavours to 
promote an interview, and once, on a former si- 
milar occasion, had covered her face and pertina- 
ciously resisted all attempts on his part to lead her 
into conversation. He now entered with the 
knowledge that the invitation came from herself; 
he felt his supposed power ; and a lofty smile play- 
ed upon his proud but handsome features. As he 
approached, she sank upon her knees, and clasped 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


107 


her hands in supplication. The tears had now 
burst the restraints of thought and internal op- 
pression, and rapidly coursed each other down her 
cheeks as she spoke, “You see before you, sir, 
a solitary female and an orphan, bereaved sudden- 
ly and cruelly of her natural protectors — deserted 
or oppressed by those who should have supplied 
their place. Before the distracting grief for these 
afflictions has had time to lose its first intensity, 
she has been cruelly beset and importuned to be- 
come a party to a marriage, of v/hich she had 
never before thought. You, sir, are the other 
party I I entreat, I implore you on my knees, at 
least to postpone this intended ceren^ony. If it is 
performed to-night, as my uncle has appointed, 
the wrath of Heaven will be poured out upon such 
a desecration of its holy institutions. You, sir, 
will wed a corpse or a raving maniac! Interpose 
then, I pray you. Petition Sir William, as from 
yourself alone, for its postponement, at least until 
your return from the intended campaign, and I 
will pray for your happiness until the end of my 
existence. I will then indeed believe that you 
desire mine.” 

He made several attempts to raise her from her 
supplicating posture, during her appeal, but she 
maintained her attitude. Having paused to catch 
her exhausted breath, he seized the opportunity 
to say, “Are you sure, madam, that there is no 
lurking weakness, no sinister design, in this de- 
mand for farther time ?” 


108 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


“ Of what design, >vhat weakness do you suspect 
me?” she exclaimed, raising her head boldly, and 
losing almost instantly the subdued tone of entreaty. 

Of base and criminal affections for one who 
should be blotted from the tablets of your memory 
for his villany, if not for his kindred blood!” 

She was on her feet in ai\ instant; her ringlets 
wildly tossed back by a quick motion of the head, 
and a corresponding effort with both hands, which 
she held still clasped in her hair, as she stared at 
him an instant before she replied, 

Are you a man ? A gentleman? A Cavalier ? 
That you come here to insult and trample upon 
one already deserted of all mankind? Her whom 
you pretend to desire for a companion through joy 
and wot How base, how cowardly, to insult a help- 
less female, and that female your kinswoman — 
one whom you pretend to love. Out upon you, 
sir, for a dastard! Were he now here whom you 
so basely slander, you would not dare employ such 
language!’^ 

“Softly, softly, my dear lady. You are only 
Ijetraying your own feelings, and counteracting 
the relenting mood into which your well acted 
appeal was near betraying me.^’ 

“ Oh, then, forget what I have said, and be in- 
deed the high minded, generous Beverly, I once 
believed you! We were children together, caressed 
by the same friends and owning a common ori- 
gin. Can you then witness unmoved my forlorn 
condition, without one feeling of compassion?’’ 


tJAVALlteHS OF VIRGINIA. 1D9 

!BeVerly was not wholly without tender feel* 
tngs> although they were so concentrated upon 
himselfj that it required the touch of a master hand 
to reach his heart. Selfish men, however, are 
sometimes easily worked upon by allusions or 
appeals to their family pride. Their connexions 
are a constituent part of the idol of their worship 
■*— self^ and it is not the least remarkable feature 
in their characters, that such men are almost al* 
ways affectionate husbands and devoted parents. 
These are but a part of self; their kindred by a 
farther remove are generally valued in proportion 
to their ability to confer honour upon the com- 
mon stock. 

“ He that feels not love,” says Goethe, must 
learn to flatter.” Doubtless the great German 
poet was contemplating the difficulties of the 
supremely selfish man in love, when he penned 
this aphorism. But Beverly was not so profound* 
ly skilled in the human heart; he ardently de- 
sired to possess the hand of his fair kinswoman, 
as well on account of her many personal attrac- 
tions, as of the rich inheritance of which she was 
the heiress; but he had not learned his own harsh 
defects of character, and of course could not sub- 
stitute the arts of flattery for the softer eloquence 
of love. He felt and enjoyed his power, as com- 
pensating in some degree for the want of admira- 
tion of himself in his intended bride, and such 
were the feelings operating upon him when he 
VoL. II. 10 


110 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


entered her chamber ; but her last appeal seemed 
to move his selfish nature, as he paused to con- 
template the eloquent suppliant before he replied. 

“ Suppose that I obtain from Sir William his 
consent for the postponement of the ceremony, 
will you then give me your hand of your own free 
will 

She paused before replying. The case was 
desperate ; no succour seemed now within the 
bounds of probability. The shades of evening 
were fast gathering around the gloomy precincts of 
her secluded apartment. She knew her uncle’s 
determination of character. One only chance of 
escape appeared remaining open to her, and she 
desperately resolved to seize it. Such was the 
train of reasoning by which she rapidly arrived at 
this conclusion, and replied. 

Our inclinations are not always within our 
own control, but if you obtain this reprieve, I 
promise to give you my hand upon the return of 
the present expedition, provided that nothing oc- 
curs in the mean time to free me from the neces- 
sity. For I will be plain and honest with you, 
and avow mydetermination to escape this marriage 
if I can.” 

I understand you, fair cousin; you expect 
deliverance at the hands of your degraded and 
new found kinsman; but trust me, he will need 
succour himself before that time arrives. I expect 
to march him through these streets in irons on my 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Ill 


wedding-day. Frown not — gather no storms of 
indignation upon your brow — it shall be even so. 
But time wears apace ; so pledge yourself before 
Heaven, that if I obtain Sir William’s consent to 
this delay, you will be mine upon the return of 
the army.” 

^ ‘ Before Heaven I promise you, under the con- 
dition I have named.” 

It is then a bargain, and I will seek the Go- 
vernor to fulfil my part of it ; should he consent, 
see that you remember your plighted faith. As 
for your condition, I take no thought of that 
and with this remark he left the room. 

It was with the greatest difficulty that she could 
suppress her rising indignation, upon his again 
alluding to her new found kinsman; but she did 
so far suppress it as to force herself through the 
required promise. The door had no sooner closed 
upon his retreating footsteps, than she clasped her 
hands, and exclaimed fervently, raising her eyes 
toward heaven, Thank God! lam now freed 
from the immediate apprehension of this most 
hated union. Oh, if he does but come within the 
allotted time! and come as my flattering hopes 
persuade me that he will — a conqueror! hailed a 
the deliverer of his country — the champion of her 
oppressed and outraged people, and the preserver 
of the most wretched of her maidens! what bless- 
ings will be his! Be he brother or kinsman or 
lover, he shall live for ever in this grateful heart. 
Brother indeed! He is a brother in kindness, 


112 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


devotion, and disregard of self; but a brother m 
kindred blood, my heart assures me he is not.^^ 

The door was again opened after the lapse of 
a short time, and Beverly entered to say, ‘‘ I have 
seen Sir William, and presented my request he 
refused at first, but when I told him that you had 
promised to be mine at the expiration of the re- 
quired time, he yielded his consent. I purposely 
concealed from him that there was any condition 
in the case, first, because I take no heed to it my- 
self, and secondly, because it might have precluded 
his concurrence, and would most certainly be a 
motive with him for placing you under still more 
rigid restraint. You see, sweet coz, that I study 
your happiness far more than you give me credit 
for. Why will you not freely then make me its 
guardian for life?” 

‘‘How very different is the selfish man,” thought 
Virginia, “ who thus blazons his own little acts of 
merest charity, for refined and delicate attentions, 
from him who possesses innate benevolence andx 
gentleness of heart? He would have studiously 
concealed a hundred greater kindnesses than this.” 
But under present circumstances, even such un- 
favourable comparisons did not prevent her from 
replying, 

“For every act of kindness towards me, Mr* 
Beverly, I am sure I try to feel very grateful, and 
since I have been within these walls, my feelings 
have been so little exercised in that way that it is 
really refreshing to feel under theic influenee^ 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA.- 113 

even in the smallest degree. The very servants 
treat me as a lost and abandoned creature. Those 
of my own sex that once professed love and respect 
for me, fly from the apartment when I speak to them, 
as if there were contamination in my very voice. 
I know that some horrible tale has been told them 
about me: would you but take the trouble to cor- 
rect the false impression, before you depart, my 
solitary lot might be greatly softened, and I would 
then have double cause for gratitude.^’ 

With the domestic arrangements of the house 
I dare not interfere — Sir William has directed all 
those things himself.” 

“ And is it by his orders too that my aunt comes 
not to see me, nor sends a kind v.rord of inquiry 
as to my health these long sad days, or a book to 
while away the longer and more gloomy nights?” 

‘‘ It is. She has wept as many foolish tears almost 
as yourself, since your confinement to this room.” 

Thank God! You have taken a load from off 
my heart. There is then one soul within the 
house, of my own sex and blood too, who sympa- 
thises with me during these stern severities.” 

‘‘Your trials will soon be over, my pretty coz, 
and then we will remove to a house of our own, 
and you shall lord it over some of these blackies, 
in revenge for their want of respect, to your heart’s 
content.” Attempting to chuck her under the 
chin, as he spoke, she was compelled to turn her 
head suddenly toward the window, for the double 
purpose of placing herself beyond the reach of his 


114 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


hand, and of concealing the rising flush of anger 
and contempt that glowed upon her countenance- 
She saw that he treated her as a child — that he 
imagined such conversation suited to the level of 
her capacity, and longed to humble his proud self- 
sufficiency, but dared not under present circum- 
stances. For the first time in her life, she found 
herself compelled to disguise her natural feelings, 
and suppress the bitter words which rose upon her 
tongue. She therefore, by way of changing the 
conversation, and knowing not what else to say, 
inquired, ‘^How soon does your army expect to 
return?” 

‘^Soon, my dear coz, very soon. In ten days 
at farthest, I hope to lay some of the trophies of 
victory at your feet, and twine you a bridal tur- 
ban from the standard of the rebel chief.” Again 
she was forced to turn her head away. And the 
harmony of their meeting, constrained and un- 
natural as it was, would probably very soon have 
been ruptured by the almost bursting indignation 
which agitated her bosom, had not the martial 
summons to the evening parade called her tor- 
mentor from her presence. 

By dawn of day, on the morning after the in- 
terview just related, the army under the command 
of Sir William Berkley took up its line of march 
toward the falls of the Powhatan. 

Virginia was a sad and silent spectator of the 
imposing pageant. She stood at her window facing 
one of the cross streets, through which their march 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


115 


was directed, and examined the devices of ban- 
ner after banner, as they moved along in martial 
pomp, to the soul-inspiring music of the drums 
and trumpets. No sympathizing emotions or half 
embodied supplications to the Ruler of Nations for 
the safety of their persons or the success of their 
arms burst from her lips. She saw the proud 
and self-satisfied Reverly curvetting by on his 
equally proud steed; she even saw him gayly wave 
his towering plumes in recognition of her presence 
without an answering nod or a single indication of 
approval. Her heart and hopes followed the stand- 
ard of the youthful Captain who commanded the 
force which these were summoned to scatter and 
destroy. Long after the last ensign had passed 
from her sight, and the music was heard only in 
faint and distant echoes as it swelled and died 
away upon the air, she stood in the same spot, her 
eyes apparently still occupied with passing objects. 
It was not so — she was endeavouring to look into 
futurity. She pictured in her imagination the 
army of the Cavaliers, under Bacon, struggling in 
the murderous ambuscade of the concentrated sav- 
age tribes in front, and mercilessly cut down by 
their own countrymen in the rear. She saw the 
stern and uncompromising Sir William and his 
veteran compeers, brandishing their sabres over 
the heads of the younger Cavaliers, and Beverly 
and Bacon engaged in the deadly contest of per- 
sonal rivalry and political hatred. Notwithstand- 
ing the disadvantages of the latter’s position, youth- 


116 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


ful hopes and a sanguine temperament, awarded 
the victory to the cause which she believed the 
just one. She had already, as by miracle, escaped 
a fate which she considered far more to be deplored 
than death, and resolved to trust her own cause, 
and that in which it was involved, to him who 
rules the destinies of battles. She remembered, 
with feelings of adoration, that he had said that the 
race was not always to the swift nor the battle to 
the strong. 



/ 





CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


117 


CHAPTER VII. 

The army under the command of General Ba- 
con had succeeded in concentrating the confe- 
derated tribes of the Peninsula, which had so long 
annoyed its flank and rear, at the falls of the 
Powhatan. Here they had erected a rude fortifi- 
cation, composed of fallen trees, having an en- 
trenchment surrounding it, with the excavated 
earth thrown up as an embankment. This was 
situated upon an eminence commanding the more 
even ground on each side of a small stream, which 
ran nearly at right angles with, and fell into the 
river below the falls. The army of the Colonists 
arrived within sight of the Indian fires, just after 
the sun had sunk behind the horizon. General 
Bacon’s plantation* was situated but a short dis- 
tance from the very spot on which the savages 
had erected their fort, and consequently he was 
well acquainted v/ith the ground. After halting 
a short time to examine the position of the enemy, 
he marched his troops to the open plain beneath 
their strong hold, in perfect silence. Here they 
bivouacked for the night, with the intention of 
storming the intrenchments at the first dawning 
of the morrow. Every thing was noiselessly put 


♦Historical. 


118 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


in readiness for this final struggle for supremacy 
between the whites and the Aborigines. The lat- 
ter had collected in overwhelming numbers, and 
seemed determined to make a desperate effort to 
regain their lost footing in the land of their fathers, 
while the former, having daily improved in di3-‘ 
cipline, were in high health, buoyant with the 
youthful hope and courage, and impatient for the 
dawn, that they might strike a blow at once, to 
answer the high expectations of their friends at 
home, and terminate the war. Little did they 
imagine that an army of those very countrymen 
was treading in their footsteps, under the com- 
mand of Sir William Berkley, with the avowed 
purpose of meting to them that chastisement which 
they were so impatient to bestow upon the enemy 
before them. 

Their commander was not long left in ignorance 
upon this point, however, for scarcely had the 
columns made their arrangements for the night 
along each side of the small stream, before a 
courier from the capital was brought into his 
quarters, by one of the sentinels stationed upon 
the outskirts of the encampment. He was the 
bearer of a proclamation, signed by Sir William 
Berkley as Governor of his Majesty^s Colony in 
Virginia, in which Bacon and his followers were 
denounced as traitors and rebels, and commanded 
forthwith to lay down their arms and return to 
their allegiance, under pain of death, and confisca- 
tion of their property. The surprise and indigna- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


119 


tion occasioned by this singular document had not 
subsided, when another messenger was dragged 
into the presence of the commander in chief. It 
was a negro, trembling from head to foot with 
visible terror at the very uncivil treatment which 
he had received, and more, perhaps, at the warlike 
preparations around, and the glaring effects of the 
Indian fires on the hilL All attempts to gain 
an intelligible account of his mission proved for 
a length of time, utterly unavailing, until Bacon, 
recognising something of old acquaintance in his 
features, dismissed his attendants. He then quickly 
disclosed, in his mongrel dialect, that he had been 
ordered to deliver a letter into the general’s own 
hands, and when no person was present. A greasy 
and rumpled document was then drawn from his 
pouch, which, notwithstanding its hard treatment, 
and discoloured exterior. Bacon instantly recognis- 
ed as the writing of Harriet Harrison. The date 
was rather more remote than seemed necessary for 
its regular transmission to its present destination, 
which the sable messenger explained by stating 
that he had been some days dodging in the foot- 
steps of the army, but that as often as he approached 
it he had been frightened back again by the flying 
hordes of savages, hanging upon their skirts. If 
Bacon felt disposed to indulge in merriment at the 
ludicrous detail of poor Ponipey, the contents of 
the note, which he now began to decipher by the 
light of a lamp, speedily restored his gravity. 
Harriet briefly related to him the nature of the 


120 CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 

conversation she had held with Sir William Berk-^ 
ley at his own house, and the treatment which 
Virginia suffered at his hands ; she concluded by 
stating the preparations then making in James- 
town by the Governor and his party, to pursue and 
capture, or cut them to pieces. This information 
was truly startling to the youthful general ; that 
concerning Virginia was most moving ; but the 
imminent peril of those gallant spirits entrusted to 
his command required his immediate attention. 
He despatched a chosen mounted band on (the 
instant, to scout along the late route of his army, 
far enough to ascertain whether that under the 
command of Sir William was within such a dis- 
tance, as to enable him to interrupt the contem- 
plated attack upon the savages at the dawning of 
the coming day. 

Bacon’s character was eminently prompt and 
decisive. He determined, should such be the 
case, to commence the attack upon the instant he 
should receive such information. 

Having provided for the safety and accommoda- 
tion of Pompey, and ordered the courier of the 
Governor into close but respectful keeping, he 
sallied out along the outposts, to examine the scene 
of future operations. The stars twinkled bril- 
liantly in the heavens around the horizon, but the 
glaring light of the savage fires upon the hill threw 
the mellowed rays of the heavenly orbs into dim 
contrast immediately round the two camps. As 
he walked along the margin of the little stream. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 121 

Upon the borders of which his own troops were 
stationed, toward the river, the night-scene pre- 
sented to his view was reviving and exciting to his 
imagination. The ascending columns of fire upon 
the hill reflected the trees and other objects upon 
its brow in gigantic shadows over thq plain be- 
noath. The bright red light fell upon the broad 
sheet of water below the falls, in long horizontal 
rays, stretching far away over its shining surface 
toward the opposite shore. The island in the 
middle of the stream, a little higher up than the 
point at which he stood, was clothed in verdant 
impenetrable shrubbery — the darkness gathered 
around its shores more palpable from the contrast 
of the neighbouring fires. The roar of the falls fell 
monotonously upon his ear, ever and anon inter- 
rupted by the sharp shrill whoop of some over- 
joyous savage, engaged in orgies within the fort 
surmounting the hill. As he pensively stood upon 
the banks of the Powhatan, and surveyed the 
illuminated scene immediately around, and the 
darker shadows of the hills stretching away in the 
distance and skirting the margin of the river, the 
shining waves beneath his feet, and the dusky out- 
lines of the rocks and islands beyond, it little enter- 
ed his imagination that upon that romantic spot, in 
future time, there should spring up a noble city — the 
capital of an empire state— that the natural lawns 
upon which he stood, would be exchanged for 
docks and quays — that the hills on his right hand 
(which to a scholar might, even then, have recall- 
VOL. II. 11 


122 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


ed the Acropolis) should support classic colonnades^ 
and spires pointing to the clouds; and that the 
diminutive stream upon the banks of which his 
troops were bivouacked, should receive, from the 
sanguinary battle in which he w’as about to engage, 
a narne to outlive the very monuments of his ge- 
neration.* Without these deeply interesting associa- 
tions, however, the scene in its natural and unre- 
claimed features was eminently captivating and 
romantic. No site in the country abounded more 
with bold and enchanting objects. On the one 
hand were the picturesque hills,! commanding’’ a 
prospect seldom equalled, never surpassed, of land- 
scape varied with woodland, dell and meadow, 
through which the shining waters of the Powhatan 
were now visible, glowing like a sheet of fire, and 
now lost in the shadows of the towering forests, as 
it held its devious course beyond the reach of the 
reflected fires in the back ground. 

Our hero might have stood gazing upon this en- 
chanting scene until the sound of the reveille in 
the morning had roused him from his revery, had 
not his quick eye caught a glimpse of moving lights 
within the Indian encampment With hurried 
steps he retraced his way through the line of sen- 
tinels, and issued immediate orders for his subor- 
dinates in command to assemble in military coun- 
cil. He was satisfied in his own mind, as he walk- 
ed up the stream, that some unusual occurrence 

* The little rivulet skirting the south eastern end of Richmond is 
called “ Bloody Run” to this day. 

t On one of these the present capital of Virginia stands. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


123 


had taken place within the palisade of the Indians 
— perhaps the presence of his own stationary co- 
lumns, as they stood in their dark frowning out- 
lines, had been discovered by the ever cunning and 
watchful enemy. He had more than once stood 
in wonder at the apparent absence of their usual 
stratagems and devices. He supposed, however, 
that, trusting to their immense superiority of num- 
bers, and the protection of their breastworks, 
they had resolved to risk an engagement, in which 
courage and strength alone should be the imple- 
ments of victory. 

The council of war had scarcely assembled, 
before they were astounded with the report of 
musketry in answer to the usual accompaniments 
of a savage sortie, in the most remote direction 
of the camp. General Bacon issued his orders 
promptly and decisively. The columns whose 
rear had been surprised by a sortie from the ene- 
my, were, by a prompt movement, instantly 
wheeled into line, changing their front so as to 
face the assailants, while the mounted Cavaliers, 
under the command of young Harrison, fiercely 
attacked them in flank. The desperate band of 
warriors were speedily driven within their breast- 
works. It was doubtless only their intention to 
harass the outskirts of the army, and then, by 
retreating, draw their pursuers within reach of 
the ambuscade stationed behind the breastwork. 
They were pursued by the mounted troops, who 


124 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


had no sooner driven them within the palisade, 
than they in their turn suddenly wheeled ami 
retreated upon the main body. 

These sallies were kept up through , the first 
w’atches of the night, with so much perseverance 
on the part of the enemy, and so much annoyance 
to the ardent and impatient troops of the patriot 
army,. that Genera] Bacon determined to give way 
to their martial ardour, and at^ once storm the 
strong hold of the enemy. 

The plan of battle in this straight-forward mode 
of warfare was simple in the extreme. Seldom 
had the Aborigines given their white enemies a 
chance of testing the relative valour of the two 
races; and protected as they were even now by a 
formidable breastwork, General Bacon did not 
hesitate as to the propriety of trusting to the dis- 
cipline and skill of his soldiers, and the immense 
superiority of their arms, against the greater num^ 
bers and defensive preparations of the enemy. 

The fires within the palisade were apparently 
flickering upon their dying embers, and an un- 
steady flash, gleaming at intervals, was the only 
light shed over the contemplated battle-ground. 
A profound quiet reigned within the camp of 
the enemy, indicative to the mind of Bacon of 
some new treachery or savage scheme. Having 
warned his officers against these, he despatched 
mounted scouting parties to hover round both 
camps, and took every other human precaution 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


125 


against surprise ; orders were now issued prepara- 
tory to a general attack upon the enemy’s en- 
trenchments. 

By a prompt evolution, his battalions of foot 
were wheeled into a solid column of attack on 
the northern side of the stream, while the mount- 
ed Cavaliers were stationed as a reserve on the 
right. The former were marched in compact 
order, directly up the face of the hill, not a trum- 
pet or a drum disturbing the silence of the funeral- 
like procession. The various colours of their 
plumes, as they waved in the night breeze, and 
the occasional glitter of burnished arms, as a flash 
of light fell athwart the solid phalanx from the 
flickering fires above, presented on6 of the most 
striking scenes imaginable. 

General Bacon assumed the immediate com- 
mand of his columns in person. He sat upon his 
impatient charger on the right wing, and examin- 
ed the ominous appearance of the enemy’s camp 
with intense interest. Not a v/arpior’s head was 
to be seen above the breastwork as they approach- 
ed. All was silent, gloomy, and portentous ; not 
a sound was heard, save the measured tramp of 
his own troops, as they moved through the bushes. 

Once indeed he thought he heard the wild shrill 
scream of a female, very different in its intonations 
from the harsh voice of the savage squaw. But so 
many unearthly sights and sounds had haunted 
both his sleeping and waking hours of late, that 
ll* 


126 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


he drove the impression from his mind, to rest 
with hundreds of others of like import. 

When the front lines had arrived within some 
forty yards of the dark and frowning breastwork, 
a sudden and momentary check was given to their 
farther prpgress. A rushing soundy as of the 
flight of many birds, and the clatter of Indian 
arrows against their arms and persons, simultane- 
ously struck upon their senses, followed by the 
fall of many soldiers, and the short involuntary 
exclamations of pain, which, from the impulse of 
the moment, escaped the unfortunate individuals. 

Trumpets and drums instantaneously broke the 
stillness of the march. Their martial notes re- 
verberated over the surrounding solitudes in en- 
livening peals. The ill-omened birds of night 
flapped their wings, and swooped through the 
unsteady lights of the scene in utter dismay at 
this untimely invasion of their prescriptive domi- 
nions, These were quickly followed by a discharge 
of musketry, poured into the formidable palisade. 
It was scarcely discharged, however, before Bacon 
discovered the utter uselessness of such a w'aste of 
ammunition. He saw that the breastwork was so 
constructed, that, while it admitted of the dis- 
charge of missiles from within, it afibrded a secure 
protection to its occupants against the musketry of 
their assailants. In the mean time his soldiers 
were exposed to . the murderous discharges of 
poisoned arrow5» 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


127 


In this emergency no time was to be lost ; 
placing himself, therefore, at the head of his 
troops, he ordered the walls to be torn down. 
These, as before related, were composed of large 
trees piled one upon another, with their green 
boughs still protruding in many places over the shal- 
low intrench ment, and the earth excavated from the 
latter throvjn up on the outside agaist a rude 
wicker-work of fine bushes, filling up the inter- 
stices of the trees. Trumpets sounded the charge, 
and the columns moved at a quick pace to the onset. 
Still not a savage head was seen until they had 
arrived at the very borders of the intrenchment. 
Here some tw6 hundred of the stoutest and 
ablest bodied of his soldiers were marched up to 
the projecting limbs of the largest tree, forming 
the basis of the breastwork. Bacon saw at a 
glance that if he could manage to seize hold of 
these projecting arms and turn the tree across the 
fosse, it would at once open the way for his 
mounted troops, and perhaps earry with it some 
forty or fifty feet of the palisade, and thereby 
bring the opposing armies face to face. They 
had already seized the projecting limbs, and were 
shaking the frail protection of the savages to its 
very foundations, when simultaneously a thou- 
sand lights gleamed over forest, hill, and dale — 
A thousand voices united their shrill clamours in 
one deafening yell of savage ferocity. The troops 
engaged in tearing down the breastwork instinc- 
tively loosed their hold, and flew to their arms, 
as they threw their eyes upward to the spot 


128 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


whence these blinding lights and deafening noises 
came. It was but the work of an instant, for 
little more time were they permitted to ex- 
amine, — they were called upon to act, and that 
vigorously, for their own preservation. In a 
single instant, and apparently at a given signal, 
the whole of the rude terrace surmounting the 
fortification literally swarmed with painted war- 
riors, each bearing in his left hand a pine torch, 
and in the other, a tomahawk, a war-club, or a 
battle-axe.* They sprang from their eommand- 
ing position into the midst of their assailants, and 
scattered themselves in every direction through 
that part of the army already advanced to the 
breastwork. 

Human ingenuity could not have devised a 
mode of warfare better calculated to suit their 
numbers, position, time, courage, and limited 
means of resistance. It at once rendered the 
mounted troops useless — prevented the colonists 
from using their fire-arms, because those immedi- 
ately engaged were at too close quarters, while 
those at a greater distance were as likely to kill 
friends as enemies. The savages dealt their 
murderous blows with ' wonderous rapidity and 
precision, and though the hardy planters in- the 
front ranks turned upon them with the butt ends 
of their muskets, the savages had evidently the 
advantage. The blazing fagots were often thrust 
into the very faces of their opponents, and while 

These were made of stones ground into the shape of our axe, 
with a groove round the centre for a handle made of withe. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 129 

writhing under the confusion and agony of the 
fire and smoke, they were stricken down like 
helpless beasts. 

Bacon saw the imminent peril of his troops, 
and though he was at first astounded by the ra- 
pidity and daring courage with which the plan 
was executed, he did not despair, nor yet sit list- 
lessly upon his horse to see his friends and coun- 
trymen slaughtered. He saw at a glance too that 
only the front columns were engaged — that a part 
of these must now necessarily fall, but he deter- 
mined at the same time, that their deaths should 
be dearly avenged, and his remaining troops 
brought off victorious. He immediately placed 
himself between the forces already engaged and 
those rushing to the rescue. The latter he wheeled 
into line immediately in front of his mounted re- 
serve, thereby, changing their front to the flank of 
the contending parties, while th^ir own right wing 
rested upon the top of the hill, and the left on the 
little stream already mentioned. Having com- 
pleted this evolution to his satisfaction, the mounted 
Cavaliers were brought round to the position just 
occupied by the foot, so that they immediately 
faced the struggling combatants, and the latter 
were ordered to give way. The retreat was 
sounded from the brazen mouths of the trumpets 
over their heads, and Bacon in person, and his 
mounted aids, rode furiously and recklessly among 
them, crying for them to fall back toward the line 
stationed on the right. 


130 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


These various movements were but the work of 
a few moments. Meantime the painted and ghast- 
ly warriors, rendered still more horrible by the 
flaring lights which they bore in their hands, and 
by the reeking instruments of death which they 
swung over their head with such unerringprecision, 
were pouring over the walls upon the devoted 
band in countless hordes. So intently were they 
engaged, that the evolutions of their enemies had 
entirely escaped their attention ; and indeed the 
Colonists themselves, who were fighting hand to 
hand with the savages, had not observed the move- 
ment, until the voices of their commanders urged 
them to fall back upon the newly formed line. As 
Bacon had calculated, no sooner were the engaged 
troops made to understand the orders, and induced 
to recede, than a partial separation was efiected, 
which was fatal to the Aboriginals. The retreat- 
ing Colonists wer^ almost immediately under the 
protection of the line already braced in solid 
column, and standing to the charge* ready for the 
expected pursuers. A company of the mounted 
Cavaliers was broken up, into squads, and these 
were actively engaged in hewing down the pur- 
suers, or cutting off their retreat to the .protection 
of the fort. In a short time a complete line of se- 
paration was formed between the two armies, save 
where, here and there, two athletic men of the op- 

The bayonet was just then coming into Bse, but was inserted 
into a round piece of wood, which was thrust, into the muzzle of 
the musket. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


131 


posite races, both having lost their arms in the con- 
test, struggled in the death gripe. Here an iron 
handed mechanist of the city clenched a warrior’s 
throat — the eyes of the victim protruding frightl 
fully from his head in the glaring light, and his 
tongue hanging from his mouth like that of a rabid 
animal, until he fell as a lump of clay among the 
hundreds of both parties who had gone before. 
There a grim warrior struggled with another, 
making desperate efforts to reach his knife, which 
the soldier as constantly struggled to prevent. 
Yonder among the heaps of slain, lay two of the 
differing races, fallen to the earth in a mutual but 
deadly clasp, each holding the other by the throat, 
until the struggle became one of mere endurance, 
and, strange to say, the white man generally con- 
quered. 

While, however, these desperate personal strug- 
gles were occurring, the tide of battle was fast 
turning against the most numerous party. It was 
with the greatest difficulty that Bacon could restrain 
the ardour and impetuosity of the troops stationed 
in line for the protection of the devoted corps 
which had led the van, the straggling members of 
which were momentarily retreating behind the 
solid bulwark of their countrymen’s pikes and 
bayonets. But no sooner was this duty of hu- 
manity performed, and a complete line of demar- 
cation distinctly drawn, than all restraints were re- 
moved. A volley of musketry was poured among 
the scattering savages along the face of the hill, in 


132 


CAVALIEiRS OF VIRGINIA. 


order to convince them that hereafter they would be 
kept at a respectful distance. A simultaneous 
movement of horse and foot now swept the brow 
of the hill; the horse charged immediately in front 
of the palisade, while the infantry drove in the 
extended line of savages at the point of the bayo- 
net. The most inextricable confusion ensued in the 
ranks of the red warriors. While the cavalry cut 
them down on one hand, and the bayonets of the 
infantry transfixed them on the other, hundreds 
were tumbling over hundreds as they tumultu- 
ously leaped over the palisade. Some hung by 
the projecting bushes — others fell upon the terrace, 
and were cast down and trodden under foot by 
their companions ; while multitudes were cut to 
pieces in making the attempt. In a short time the 
open field was left in complete possession of the 
whites — the brow of the hill was literally covered 
with the wounded and the slain, both of white and 
red. Yet the battle was not ended ; hundreds upon 
hundreds had escaped within the fort. The savage 
force amounted at the commencement to something 
like three thousand warriors of various tribes, and 
that of the Colonists to about one thousand.* Ba- 
con earnestly desired to spare the effusion of hu- 
man blood, and hazardous as the Indians were as 
neighbours, either professing friendship or enmity, 
he resolved to send them a flag of truce and pro- 
pose a permanent peace lipon condition of their 


* Burke sayg 600. 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


133 


abandoning the Peninsula for ever. He knew that 
they understood the sacred rights and privileges of 
that peaceful banner, for it had already been re^ 
cognised among some of their own tribes. Ac- 
cordingly a young and promising officer was thrust 
up to the top of the palisade. He waved his flag 
and laid his hand upon his heart in token of friend- 
ship, and grounded his sword in order to convince 
them that he came upon a peaceful errand, but in- 
stead of sending out their interpreter or prophet, 
he was treacherously murdered by a tomahawk — 
thrown some twenty yards by the hand of a war^^ 
rior, and buried in his brain. All hopes of peace 
were now abandoned, and Bacon determined to 
complete the victory which he had commenced, 
and won thus far at the expense of so many valued 
lives. 

Orders were again issued for tearing down the 
palisade, while a chosen band of prompt and ex- 
pert marksmen were stationed at the distance of 
some thirty yards, to shoot down the savages as 
they should show their heads above the breastwork 
Instead of the infantry being stationed to protect 
the miners as before, the cavalry formed a column 
flanking the marksmen, so that they could at a 
moment’s warning, rush in between the descend- 
ing hordes and, the corps engaged in pulling down 
the barricade. 

Again the trees composing the palisade were 
seized by the projecting limbs, and a sudden 
wrench brought the earth piled against its outer 

VoL. II. 12 


134 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


side tumbling into the ditch beneath, and shook 
the whole fabric to its foundation. Again an omi- 
nous arid inexplicable silence prevailed within 
the enclosure, which was the more remarkable, 
as there was left no known method of escape, and 
by their own treachery to the officer who had 
borne the flag of truce, they were reduced to the 
alternative of dying in their ditches or desperately 
cutting their way through the solid phalanx which 
enclosed them on every side. Hitherto the marks- 
men stationed in front for the purpose of clearing 
the terrace of the savages, as they should mount 
the breastwork from the inside, had little to do. 
At length a group of savages displayed their paint- 
ed faces above the barrier, apparently endeavour- 
ing to drag some unwieldy burden to the top of 
the works. They were instantly shot down, but 
their places were as speedily supplied by others. 
A faint but piercing shriek rent the air, which 
promptly arrested the attention of Bacon, Dudley, 
and young Harrison, who sat upon their horses 
superintending the operations of the miners, and 
holding an occasional discourse among themselves. 
The voice came evidently from a female, and re- 
minded Bacon that he had once before during the 
night heard a like sound from the same direction. 
He waved his sword to the marksmen stationed 
on his left, to withhold their fire, while his own 
attention and that of his two associates were in- 
tently ri vetted to the occupation of the group as- 
cending the wall from the other side. At this 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


135 


moment the large tree which the troops in front 
had been some time shaking loose, came crashing 
over upon its limbs, and bringing with it those 
which had been piled above, thus exposing to 
view the interior of the fort, but not yet affording 
an uninterrupted passage for the besiegers. The 
battalions of foot, however, were tumultuously 
rushing toward the breach, reckless of the interpos- 
ing branches and trunks of the prostrate trees, when 
Bacon, in a voice of thunder commanded them to 
halt! The very moment the fort gave way a sight 
was revealed to his eyes, and those of his two 
comrades, which made the hair rise on end upon 
their heads, and the blood in their veins run cold 
with horror. The Indians, who had so long 
struggled to ascend the fort some twenty or thirty 
yards from the breach, had at length succeeded, 
bearing one of the objects which so powerfully 
arrested the attention of the officers on horseback. 
Two grim warriors supported between them the 
body of a woman of the European race, while a 
third stood behind her, on the top of the palisade 
with uplifted tomahawk. With one hand he held 
the weapon suspended oVer the head of the droop- 
ing victim, vyhile with the other, he pointed to 
the neighbouring breach in the breastwork, with 
a look and gesture that seemed to say, “advance, 
and her fate is sealed!” Although the light from 
the smouldering fires was dim and unsteady, enough 
was caught of the outlines of this figure to thrill to 
the very heart-strings of the three spectators; she 


136 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


was upheld on either side by the mere strength 
of her guards — her feet seemed to have sunk from 
under her — but her. head was erect arid turning 
with wonderful rapidity from side to side, as she 
gazed with wild and glaring eyes upon the scene 
around her. Her fair silken tresses fell unre- 
strained upon her shoulders or were blown about 
in fluttering streams, as the unsteady light fell 
now in broad masses, and then in dim and sha- 
dowy rays. Her dress was white, and fell in am- 
ple folds around all that was left of a once sym- 
metrical figure. Her features were ashy. pale and 
attenuated to the last degree of human wretched- 
ness, her eye shot forth the wild flashes of a fren- 
zied mind. She was entirely unconscious of her 
danger, and though she seamed to examine the 
wild scene around, it was not with fear and trem- 
bling. A sickly smile played upon her death-like 
features, as if she rather took pleasure than suffered 
pain in these unusual sights, or saw embodied be- 
fore her in palpable form somewhat of the fleeting 
phantasmagoria which had so long eluded her sensesv 
yet she was speechless — and so were the late com- 
batants. 

A profound and solemn silence prevailed through- 
out the ranks of both parties. The fate of battle, 
or the life of an individual, was suspended upon 
the results of the moment. It was soon interrupted, 
wildly, fearfully interrupted ! The threatened vic- 
tim burst into a convulsion of frantic laughter, the 
wild unguided tones of a voice once rich and 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


137 


musical, were borne along the still night air, and 
resounded through the dark forest like some un- 
earthly mockery of human merriment. As if a 
thunderbolt from heaven had instantaneously 
stricken her dumb she ceased. The sounds of 
her own voice startled and astonished her ; per- 
haps some dim rememberance of its former tones, 
as it rose and fell upon the air, floated darkly 
through her mind. The grim old warriors who 
supported her, were impressed with awe and fear, 
and the very executioner was almost overcome 
with his native superstitious reverence. The 
events we have just described occupied but a few 
moments of time, — far less than we have taken 
to describe them. At this juncture, and while 
the three stern Indians maintained their posts, 
Wyanokee sprang upon the terrace, struck the 
tomahawk from the hands of the ready execu- 
tioner — pushed him backward over the palisade, 
and threw herself recklessly upon the unfortunate 
lady, encircling her with her arms. At the 
same instant her two astounded countrymen fell 
lifeless from the terrace, pierced to the heart by 
the unerring balls of the sharp shooters. 

The Colonial army now broke tumultuously into 
the fort. Here another threatened victim had 
been held as a suspended pledge over their fires, for 
the safety of this their last strong hold, but so in- 
tense had been the interest excited in behalf of the 
unfortunate IMrs. Fairfax, that little attention was 
bestowed upon him. It was none other than 
12 * 


138 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Brian O’Reily. When the breach was made in 
the fort, he was discovered in the centre of the 
area, tied fast to a stake driven into the ground. A 
quantity of resinous pine wood was built high up 
around his body, and half a dozen torch-bearers 
stood ready to apply the flame. The report of the 
muskets had no sooner announced the death of their 
comrades on the wall, than this pile was fired in a 
a hundred places. Already the victim began to 
writhe as the intolerable heat scorched his flesh, 
and the smoke rushed into his eyes and throat. As 
the soldiers entered through the breach with Dud- 
ley, who had dismounted, at their head, he rushed 
toward the sufiering victim, and, assisted by his fol- 
lowers, hurled the burning brands upon the heads 
of those who kindled them. 

Meanwhile Bacon had also dismounted. He 
saw that the contest would now be short, and giv- 
ing his orders to Dudley, he leaped upon the pali- 
sade where Wyanokee was vainly endeavouring to 
support and restrain his former patroness, who 
had repeatedly and fruitlessly endeavoured to stand 
erect, and as often had fallen back into the arms of 
the Indian maiden. As Bacon approached, his whole 
soul agitated with deep and thrilling emotions, she 
was sitting upon the wall, forcing herself farther 
and farther back, like a frighted infant, into the 
arms of her protectress. Her eyes stared wildly 
upon the approaching youth, and the lids fell not 
over the painfully distended orbs. She did not 
recognise him, even when he approached within a 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA* 139 

few paces and kindly and soothingly addressed 
her. At one moment she seemed about to make 
some reply, but the half formed words died upon 
her lips — they moved as though she held the de- 
sired discourse, but na sound was audible. The 
wild noise and confusion of the onset, breaking 
upon her ears, she started up and cried ‘"‘Hah! 
see you not that the king’s troops put those of the 
commonwealth to the sword ? Behold his giant 
form weltering in gore! ’Tis gone! It was not 
he ! No, no ; I saw not the bloody hand. It was 
merely one of these puppet warriors dressed out to 
frighten babes. He lives! did he not tell me so, 
with his own lips ? Do the dead tell the liv- 
ing lies ? That were a trick of the devil in-* 
deed.” Again she burst into a horrible and ap^ 
palling laugh, fell back into the arms of Wyanokee, 
and her mortal pains and sorrows were for ever 
ended. 

The long-disputed contest w’as now drawing to 
a close ; the Indians fought desperately, as long as 
there was a hope left of repulsing the troops which 
rushed in at the breach, burning with ardour and 
roused to indignation by their wanton cruelties ; 
but the superior arms and skill of the Colonists 
rendered the contest in a short time utterly despe- 
rate on the part of the besieged. When farther 
resistance was put out of their power, by the be- 
siegers closing in upon them on every side,, and 
thus confining their exertions within a narrow 
space in the centre of the fort, the stern warriors 


140 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


threw away their tomahawks and war-clubs, and 
fell prostrate on their faces. It was a moving sight 
to behold these hardy veterans of a hundred bat- 
tles, gradually encompassed by a more skilful and 
powerful enemy, until they were forced to surren- 
der this last foothold upon the land of their fathers. 
Their prostrate attitude was by no means intended 
to express an abject petition for mercy ; it was the 
custom established by their people, and its impulse 
was utter desperation. They neither desired nor 
expected quarter, but threw themselves upon the 
earth, to signify their willingness to meet the tor- 
tures of their enemies. When placed under the 
vigilance of the troops appointed to guard them 
until dawn, they sat like statues, not a muscle or 
feature expressing eniotion of any kind. 

Bacon stood over the body of his late kind and 
unfortunate patroness, as still and motionless as 
his own prisoners, contemplating the sad change 
which a few short days had made upon her mild 
and benignant features, until reminded by Dudley 
that he had other duties to '"perform. The latter 
approached and informed him that the garrison 
had surrendered. He heeded him not. He re- 
peated his information, and touched the general 
upon the shoulder. Bacon started wildly for an 
instant, but seeing who spoke, a meaningless 
smile flitted across his features while he answered. 

True, true, Dudley, I will attend you in a mo- 
ment and was about to relapse into his former 
mood, but rousing himself, he issued orders for 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


141 


pitching his own marquee, and then directed that 
the dead body of Mrs. Fairfax should be borne 
thither and deposited under its shelter with all due 
respect. Till now, Wyanokee had sat near the 
cold and lifeless form. Not a tear was shed nor 
any other indication given that she had lost a 
friend, esteemed by her one of the first of the earth. 
There was, perhaps, just a perceptible expression 
of wildness and mystery in her steady and ab- 
stracted gaze on vacancy, as if in thought she was 
following the d!eparted spirit to the verdant forests 
and blossoming meadows of the happy hunting*- 
ground beyond the sky. It is true that she had 
been somewhat instructed in the doctrines of our 
religion, but he has made little progress in the 
study of mankind who does not know that the pe- 
culiar opinions — the form’s of worship, whether of 
superstition or religion, which have been infused 
into the mind in the tender years of infancy, will 
ever after give a tinge to the views of the recipi- 
ent. But Wyanokee had by no means renounced 
the doctrines of her father’s worship, and however 
much her mind may have been worked upon while 
under the influence of the whites, and of the im- 
posing form and ceremonies of the Established 
Church, since her abjuration of their friendship, 
she had imperceptibly lapsed into most of her 
aboriginal notions. 

When the body of Mrs. Fairfax was laid out 
under the marquee of the commander in chief, and 
a line of sentinels was established around its limits, 


142 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Wyanokee was the sole living tenant of the apart- 
ment. She sat by the corpse, in precisely the 
same state which we have before described. 

In a very short time from that in which Dudley 
announced the termination of the conflict to his 
commanding ofiicer, profound quietness reigned 
over the fort and brow of the hill, so lately the 
scene of bloodshed and strife, save where it was 
disturbed by the movements of those engaged in 
burying the dead, and rescuing the wounded who 
lay sufiering under the weight of their dead com- 
rades. 

Never had such a battle been fought in Virginia, 
either as regarded the number of Indians engaged, 
the consequences depending on the result, or the 
sanguinary nature of the conflict itself. It was 
the last struggle for supremacy between the whites 
and the Indians in the Peninsula. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


143 


CHAPTER VIII. 


General Bacon apprehending that the rising 
sun might disclose to view the approaching 
columns of the army under Sir William Berkley, 
had ordered the dismantled fort to be refitted in 
such a manner as to afford some protection to his 
exhausted troops. The trees were again brought 
round to their former position, and the limbs by 
which themselves had gained entrance lopped off. 
The sun, however, rose above the horizon with- 
out betraying any sign, either of the expected 
army, or of the mounted scouts whom he had 
sent out just before the battle. This latter circum- 
stance gave him not a little uneasiness, as he could 
account for their protracted absence in no other 
way than by supposing that they had fallen into 
Sir William’s hands. 

Most of the troops were yet indulging in repose, 
after the extraordinary fatigues of the night, and 
were cheerfully indulged by their officers, in the 
hope that they would rise with renewed ardour 
and courage for the expected attack. 

At about ten o’clock in the morning, the troops 
having been roused from their slumbers, and par- 
taken of a hasty breakfast, the sentinel pacing 


144 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


to and fro upon the top of the walls, announced 
the approach of the expected foe. Bacon and his 
staff quickly mounted the breastwork to examine 
the number and appointments of his confident 
enemy; but to his great/ joy and relief, the ap- 
proaching troops proved to be his own missing 
scouts. He mounted his charger and galloped 
over the intervening ground in order to learn 
the cause of their strange absence ; so impatient 
was he, not only on that score, but likewise to 
learn tidings from his pursuers. He very soon 
met the advancing horsemen, who, upon perceiv- 
ing their general, halted in the road. The infor- 
mation communicated by the commander of the 
party was not less surprising to Bacon than was 
the account of the battle to the officer, who had 
been absent from its dangers and its glories. The 
latter stated, that after having ridden about twenty 
miles on the previous night, they suddenly came 
upon the encampment of Sir William’s army, but 
having discovered their fires in sufficient time, 
had avoided their pickets. They scouted round 
his camp for a considerable length of time, en- 
deavouring to learn something of his intended 
movements — the number of his soldiers, and their 
disposition toward themselves, but found no 
means of gaining information. At length they 
narrowly escaped being discovered and intercept- 
ed by a foraging party, and having discovered 
that the troopers composing it, had come last from 
the house of a planter, living not far from the en- 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


145 


campment, they resolved to present themselves 
before him, candidly explain their business, and 
throw themselves upon his patriotism for any 
information which he might possess. They did 
so, and were fortunate enough to find that the 
planter was not only able, but willing to give 
them important information, and was anxious for 
the success of Bacon’s expedition — his own son be* 
ing engaged in it. The amount of his information 
in few words, was, that Sir William Berkley had 
that very evening received an express from James- 
town, urgently summoning him -back to the capi- 
tal, with all his forces. That two influential citi- 
zens residing in the counties south of Jamestown, 
by name Walklate and Ingraham,* having heard of 
his expedition to cut off the return of General Bacon 
and his army, had immediately raised a force of 
horse and foot scarcely inferior to his own, and were 
marching upon the capital. Nor was this all the 
unfavourable news communicated by the express ; 
it farther stated that the House of Burgesses, then 
in session, (contrary to the promise of Sir William 
to dissolve it,) were engaged upon some resolu- 
tions, very injurious to the reputation and farther 
influence of the Governor, and that they had al- 
ready approved of the proceedings of General Ba- 
con, and resolved to require the Governor to sign 
his commission as commander in chief of the 
colonial forces, besides having transmitted to the 


VOL. II. 


♦ Historical. 
13 


146 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


ministry at home, testimonials of his patriotism^ 
talents, and bravery. 

The foraging party from the army of Sir Wil- 
liam, had farther informed the planter, that it was 
the intention of his excellency to break up his 
camp by dawn of day, and return by forced 
marches, to the protection of the capital. 

At this juncture, the Colony of Virginia present- 
ed the singular spectacle of three distinct and in- 
dependent armies, assembled at one time. One 
at the falls, commanded by Bacon — another in 
the Peninsula, commanded by Sir William Berk- 
ley, and the third in the south, commanded by 
Generals Ingraham and Walklate. The first and 
last were nothing more than disciplined assemblages 
of volunteers from among the people, while that 
under the command of the Governor in person, 
was composed in part of veteran regular troops, 
and partly of loyal subjects, called together by the 
urgent appeals of him who had so long been the 
honoured organ of his majesty’s authority in the 
colony. 

When General Bacon returned to the camp, 
and had assembled his associates in command, and 
communicated to them the foregoing particulars, 
he also announced to them his intention of leaving 
the temporary command of the army with his next 
in rank, and repairing in person immediately to 
the capital. 

His views, having met the approbation of the 
council of officers, the sloop which had brought 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


147 


up the marine part of the expedition was promptly- 
put in readiness, and forty chosen men embarked 
for his escort.* 

His unfortunate valet and devoted adherent, 
5rian O’Reily, although much enfeebled by long 
confinement and want of wholesome food, was, 
at his own earnest request, added to the number. 
So urgent had been the various claims upon the 
time of General Bacon, that he had not yet heard 
Brian’s account of his sufferings and privations. 

Before embarking he issued the strictest orders 
for the safety, comfort, and protection of the nu- 
merous prisoners, and of Wyanokee in particular. 
He directed that she should be conveyed in the 
same wagon, then preparing for the purpose of 
transporting the remains of Mrs. Fairfax to James- 
town. 

Before taking leave of his comrades in arms, he 
entered the marque6 containing the honoured re- 
mains. The sentinel was walking his solitary 
rounds of monotonous duty, with solemn aspect. 
Strange that the ceremonies attending the laying 
out and decently guarding this lifeless body should 
more powerfully^ impress this sturdy soldier than 
all the heaps of slain piled into one common grave 
during the night. 

Bacon entered the marquee alone. There sat 
the last daughter of the kings of Chickahominy, 
in precisely the attitude in which he had seen her 
five hours before. She was the sole mourner at 
* Historical. 


148 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


the feet of her whom in life she had most honoured. 
He was powerfully affected by the sight of many 
little personal ornaments, not worn on the pre- 
vious night, but which had been collected by 
Wyanokee and placed conspicuously upon the 
corpse. He was struck, too, with the delicate 
consideration of the Indian maiden in these native 
observances in honour of the dead. Conspicuous 
among the things valued by her friend while liv- 
ing, was a small silver clasped pocket bible; it was 
spread open upon the neat folds of her white gar- 
ments, surrounded with a profusion of wild flow- 
ers, such as he had often known her to transplant 
into her own garden. 

But time pressed, and urgent circumstances called 
him to the capital; he therefore lifted the covering 
(a white handkerchief) from her face, and gazed 
for the last time upon those features impressed 
upon his heart and memory from infancy. Al- 
most involuntarily he drew from his doublet the 
diminutive locket, reassured his heart by a momen- 
tary comparison of the features — and then forced 
himself away and proceeded to the bank of the 
river, where the sloop already spread her sails to 
the ready breeze. 

The prisoners taken at the battle of the Falls, 
or of the Bloody Run as it was more frequently 
called, were placed in the centre of the army, with 
the exception of Wyanokee, and the fort burnt 
to the ground, after which the Colonial troops- 
took up their line of march for the capital. To- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


149 


ward this central point three separate armies were 
now advancing, while the House of Burgesses were 
passing a series of resolutions in which all three 
were deeply interested. A more important junc- 
ture in the afiairs of the Colony had never occurred, 
and the approach of the various hostile parties to- 
ward the capital excited the deepest anxiety in all 
‘the reflecting inhabitants of the city. 

The courier announcing the successful issue of 
Bacon’s campaign against the tribes of the Penin- 
sula, which had so long disturbed the peace and 
tranquillity of the planters, was received with ge- 
neral manifestations of joy and expressions of grati- 
tude to the youthful commander of the expedition. 

By a resolution of the assembly, the State House 
was ordered to be illuminated, and the inhabitants 
generally were requested to follow the example. 
These, with other voluntary demonstrations of re- 
joicing on the part of the citizens, were about to 
be carried into execution, when the vanguard of 
Sir William Berkley’s army, commanded by the 
sturdy old knight in person, arrived at the gates 
of the bridge. When he was informed of the 
cause of this unusual measure, and of the resolu- 
tions which had been passed by the House of Bur- 
gesses, both in regard to himself and his young 
rival in the popular favour, he burst into a most 
ungovernable fit of rage — threw his sword into 
the river, and swore he would embark for Eng- 
land the next morning. He was no sooner dia- 
13 * 


150 CAVALIERS OF VIRGmiA. 

suaded from the rash step, than he resolved upon 
an expedient equally inconsiderate. It was no- 
thing less than to march his army into the streets of 
the city, and thence, with a chosen band of follow- 
ers, disperse the assembly at the point of the bay- 
onet. It was with the greatest difficulty, and after 
long efforts, that his more discreet friends were 
enabled to dissuade him from this step likewise, 
nor even then until they had compromised the 
affair, by agreeing that he should issue a proclama- 
tion with the same view, and forthwith issue writs 
for a new election. Accordingly, having marched 
his troops into the heart of the city, and encamped 
them immediately round the State House and pub- 
lic grounds, he carried his threats into execution. 

The dissolution of the assembly was immediately 
proclaimed, and Writs were issued for the election 
of their successors. To such a length had Sir 
William Berkley carried his high-handed measures, 
from time to time, since his reaccession to the 
vice-regal chair, that he imagined the people would 
submit to any dictation emanating from so high a 
functionary as himself — that it was only necessary 
to make his will and pleasure known to the good 
citizens of Jamestown, at once to put an end to all 
the demonstrations of joy by which his arrival 
was so unwelcomely greeted. He was led into 
this error, partly by his own overweening pride,, 
and partly by the respect which so many years of 
unclouded prosperity in the same station had na^* 


CfAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


151 


turally engendered in the people. And doubtless 
they would have endured much, and did submit 
to many oppressions, rather than resist the author- 
ity of one who had so long held the reins of go- 
vernment. But the true secret of the change in 
the character of that government, was in the erro- 
neous views conceived by the captious old knight, 
during the government of the commonwealth. He 
had fallen wuth his first Royal master and risen 
with the second — and thus had come into power 
the second time, with all the extravagant notions 
of prerogative entertained by his transatlantic pro- 
totype, without having dei‘ived any wholesome 
lessons of experience from the fate of his first un- 
fortunate master. 

The people heard the proclamation dissolving 
the assembly, with murmurs indeed at the spirit 
and motive in which it originated, but without 
feelings of opposition to the measure, because it 
was one which they had themselves demanded be- 
fore his departure. They therefore moodily ac- 
quiesced, and even submitted to be bearded by the 
foreign mercenaries in their streets and public 
Walks, but when the Governor, emboldened by 
this apparent tameness undertook to issue another 
document, proclaiming Bacon, Dudley, Harrison^ 
Walklate, Ingraham, and their followers, rebels, 
the people could submit no longer. The mutter- 
ed thunders of popular discontent burst out into 
all the fury of a storm. His officers were forcibly 
prevented from reading his proclamations in the 


152 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


streets, and public places — a general meeting of 
the citizens voluntarily assembled at the State 
House, surrounded as it was by his soldiers, and 
there passed resolutions, condemning his recent 
conduct, in the most unmeasured terms. They 
also appointed a large committee to wait on him 
forthwith, and not only demand the suppression 
of the last proclamation, but that he should sign 
the commissions, already prepared by the assembly 
for the very persons so denounced. After making 
these demands of the infatuated old man, they 
farther informed him that two expresses were al- 
ready mounted — one to be despatched to the army 
under Bacon, and the other to that headed by In- 
graham and Walklate, both of which were proba- 
bly within a short distance of the city. That be- 
sides these preparations for any extreme measures 
to which he might think proper to resort, the 
citizens generally were arming themselves, and 
even that many members of the late House of 
Burgesses, which he had just dissolved, were tak- 
ing up arms, and held themselves in readiness to 
assist in disarming and expelling the mercenaries 
under his command. Sir William demanded two 
hours for deliberation and consultation with his 
friends. These were soon assembled, and the 
committee withdrew to await the expiration of the 
allotted time. 

Again the Governor was destined to be morti- 
fied. The officers assembled, most of whom had 
been with him in his recent expedition, stated that 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 153 

the popular spirit of revolt and insubordination, 
had spread among the soldiery to such an extent 
that no dependence could be placed upon them in 
case of a rupture with the citizens. In this emer- 
gency he was compelled to listen to the admoni- 
tions of the friends, who advised that he should 
endeavour to turn the popular current in his fa- 
vour, by signing the commissions, and withdrawing 
the offensive proclamations. To this he was forced 
to accede, and accordingly when the committee 
of the citizens returned he signed-the commissions. 
Scarcely had he dismissed them, however, before 
he began devising measures to counteract the very 
purpose of his act. He ordered a representation 
to be immediately drawn up for ministers, in 
which the now commissioned officers in question 
were represented as traitors— directed the most re- 
solute and trust-worthy'of his adherents to embark 
for Accomac, whither he resolved to transfer the 
seat of Government until the citizens of the capi- 
tal should be taught that respect for his majesty’s 
representative in which they had shown themselves 
so deficient within the last few hours ; and com- 
manded all the armed ships not engaged in trans- 
porting his own troops across the bay,* (and there 
were many of them in the river,) to cruise up the 
stream, in order to intercept the sloop conveying 
General Bacon and his suite to the city, with strict 
orders to bring him dead or alive to Accomac. 
Having issued these various orders, and seen them 
* See Burke. 


154 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


put in a regular train of execution, he embarked 
the same night on board an armed brigantine, with 
his own family and suite, not forgetting his im- 
prisoned and deeply injured niece. 

Meanwhile General Bacon was calmly reclining 
upon the deck of his little sloop; it was the second 
night from his embarkation — the moon was shining 
brightly in the heavens, and the stars sparkled 
brilliantly through a hazy but not damp atmos- 
phere, and not a breath of air filled the white sails 
as they flapped idly against the mast. The vessel 
was drifting slowly toward her place of destination 
it is true, but not with a velocity in accordance 
with the ardent desires of the passengers. Every 
soul on board had retired to rest except himself, 
Brian O’Reily, and that part of the crew to which 
belonged the duty of the watch. It was the same 
night the reader will remember, on which Sir 
William Berkley arrived at, and afterward so 
suddenly departed, from the capital. 

Brian O’Reily was for the first time explaining 
to his master the manner in which he came into 
the hands of the Indians. Bacon had readily 
surmised the whole process, but knowing that 
O’Reily must be indulged with the relation at one 
time or another, and being unable to sleep in his 
present excited state of mind, he had given the 
impulse to Brian’s garrulity, not inadvertently, 
however, by the simple question, 

‘‘So Brian, you were in pursuit of me wheu 
the Powhatans made you a prisoner?” 

‘^Ay, by St. Stephen the martyr, and the 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


155 


twelve Apostles, barrin one iv them that was a 
thraitor, I was near bein a martyr myself, only 
the bloody nagres had a notion to fatten me, and 
that’s the rason they kept me tied on me back all 
the while, jist as I used to fix the misthress’s blind 
calf, the saints bless her soul.” 

‘‘ Fatten you, Brian, for what ?” 

To ate me, to be sure!” 

‘‘Pshaw, O’Reily, they are not cannibals.” 

“ Oh the divil burn my eyes, but I saw thim 
roastin babies by the fire, and ating them like 
pathriges, widout so much as salt to season them!” 

“ You just now told me you were tied in a dark 
hole, and fed on parched corn, all the time you 
were a prisoner,” 

“ Divil a word iv a lie’s in that, any way, your 
honour, and sure enough I did’nt jist see thim 
kooking the young ones, but didn’t I smell thim 
roastin? Sure and Brian O’Reily wouldn’t be 
after being decaived in the smell of a pig for a 
sucking baby. Didn’t the divil tempt me wid 
that same smell any way? may be he didn’t? 
Wasn’t I starvin myself upon short allowance iv 
their muVtherin popped corn, and didn’t the bloody 
nagers roast a baby jist whin me unconscionable 
bowels came up into my throat every day, beg- 
ging for muttin and turnips ? and didn’t they want 
to fatten me like the misthress’s blind calf — me 
bowels I mane? and didn’t I put thim aff wid a 
half score parched corns? Oh! if they had 


156 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


only been stilled into whiskey, may be it wouldn’t 
iy cured the smotherin I had about the heart.” 

I suppose, Brian, you were never sober for 
such a length of time together in your life before.” 

‘‘ Oh ! be our Lady you may say that — there 
was jist nothing to ate, and the same to dhrink, 
barrin the parched corn, and the babies, and may 
be, an oldher sinner for Sundays, by way of a 
feast.” 

“ You travelled on foot, I suppose, from place 
to place, until they concentrated at the falls !” 

“ Divil a foot iv mine touched the ghround., 
since they pulled me off my horse at yon town of 
theirs over the river. I rode on a horse ivery 
foot iv the way, your haner, and had one iv the 
nagers to attind me ; may be he did’nt ride be- 
hint me on the same baste, and put his arms around 
me like a butcher taking a fat wether to the 
shambles.” 

“ You were in right good case too, when you 
fell into the hands of this singular butcher, that 
deals in human flesh, according to your account 

“ Ay was I, but I lost it asier than I got it — 
by the five crasses, but the sweat run dow n to me 
shoes every time I looked round at the painted 
divil sittin on the same baste wid me — his nose 
ornamented wid a lead ring like a wild steer. 
Sure I thought the ghreat inimy was flyin away 
wid me, before I was dacently buried.” 

“ What did he say to you, Brian ?” 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 157 

Say to me, your haner! By the holy father, 
feut he addressed none iy his discourse to me. 
Maybe he was talkin to the divil that was in him as 
big as a sheep— didn’t he grunt it all away down 
in his pipes like a pig in a passion ? Or may be 
he was talkin to the horse, for he grunted too, and 
one iy thim jist discoursed as well as the t’other, 
to my mind.’^ 

Could you not tell upon what subject he 
spoke, from his; gestures or signs. — Did he not 
point to Jamestown frequently?” 

‘‘Not he — he pointed to the colour iy me hair, 
more belikes, and when they gat to yon place 
where your haner put so many iy thim to slape, 
they all gathered round me to see it. They had 
their own crowns painted the same colour, and 
they wonthered at the beauty iy mine, and faith, 
that was the most rasonable thing I saw among 
thim, barrin that they brought me the paint-pot, 
and wanted me to figure ofi* one iy their beautiful 
gourds like Brian O’Reily’s. 1 towld thim it was 
a thing out iy all rason, and pulled out some iy 
the hair to show thim, and divil burn the bloody 
thaives, but they cut it all aff jist for keepsakes 
among thim.” ' 

“They left you a top-knot, I see, however.’^ 
Before O’Reily could make a reply, the sailor 
on the watch cried out that there was a large ship 
bearing down upon them . Bacon sprung upon his 
feet, ordered Brian to alarm the soldiers, and walk- 
ed hastily forward. At the first glance, he saw a 
VoL. II. 14 


158 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


crowd of warlike heads, arid caught the reflection 
of the light upon their arms. A second look at 
the strange movements of the vessel, and the hos- 
tile preparations of those on board served to con- 
vince him that he was himself the object of their 
pursuit. Taking two of the first soldiers who 
made their appearance on deck, he silently enter- 
ed the boat swinging from the tafierel of the sloop, 
motioned the two soldiers to follow him, and then 
ordered the; boat to be let down with all silence 
and despatch. O’Reily seeing these preparations 
as he came on deck from the performance of his 
orders, sprung into the boat as one end struck the 
water; it was too late, and the circumstances too 
urgent for his master to order him back-*-the frail 
bark was pushed oflf, therefore, with muffled oars, 
and as much within the shadow of the approach- 
ing vessels as their destined course would permit. 
Scarcely were they without the protection of these, 
before they discovered the yawl of the ship full of 
armed men, rapidly gliding into the water, and in 
the next moment, they heard musket balls whis- 
tling over their heads, accompanied by, the mo- 
mentary gleam and then the quick report of fire- 
arms. Seizing an oar himself, and ordering Brian 
to follow his example, they pulled with all their 
strength for the shore; this once gained, he hoped 
that the protection of the forest and the increasing 
haziness of the atmosphere settling upon the high 
banks of the river, would efiectually protect his 
retreat. But in spite of their utmost efibrts, the 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


159 


superior power with which the yawl was propelled 
through the water was rapidly shortening the dis- 
tance between them. Brian threw off his jerkin, 
and strenuously exhorted his master to trust him- 
self to the mercy of the waves, though he knew 
not the nature of the threatened danger. On this 
point. Bacon himself could only conjecture, that 
it was some device of his old enemy to get him 
secretly into his power, and hence his anxiety to 
reach Jamestown at the , present juncture. He 
knew nothing of the change which had taken 
place at the capital in his favour, but he knew his 
own power over the populace, and he preferred be- 
ing made prisoner in public, to trusting himself to 
the tender mercies of Sir William Berkley. In 
spite of all his exertions, and the hopes of reward 
held out to the soldiers in case of success, their 
boat was cut off from the shore by the pursuers 
interposing between it and themselves. He saw 
that resistance would be madness, as the boat now 
wheeling exactly in front of them contained five 
times their number, and would doubtless, in case 
of a struggle, be promptly sustained by assistance 
from the ship, which was now nearer to them than 
their own vessel. His only course, therefore, was 
to submit with as much philosophy as he could 
muster. He was deeply mortified and chagrined 
however, for his presence seemed to him to be 
most urgently called for at the capital. These 
views were founded upon the information he had 


1^0 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


received, now two days old. Could he have knowm 
what had taken place at Jamestown only a few 
hours before, and only a few miles distant from 
his present position; could he have known that 
Sir William Berkley was at that very moment an 
adventurer upon the same waters, but a few miles 
below, and driven thence by the firmness of the 
patriotic citizens who belonged to his own party, 
he would doubtless have made a desperate re- 
sistance. Perhaps it was more fortunate for all 
parties that he was thus ignorant of existing cir- 
cumstances at the capital, for had he fallen at this 
juncture, (which was most probable) the fate of 
the Republican party in the infant state might 
have been very different. 

He aftd his party soon found themselves on board 
of the hostile ship, which was commanded by 
Capt. Gardiner, an Englishman — a devoted loyal- 
ist and adherent of Sir William Berkley. He was 
politely received by that officer, but informed that 
he must consider himself a prisoner until he could 
exculpate himself before the Governor in person, 
at Accomac. Until this moment Bacon had been 
partially reconciled to his mishap, trusting to his 
known popularity among the people of the city, 
which he knew would not be diminished by the 
eclat of his Indian victoriesj but now that he was 
informed of the present residence of the Govern- 
or, and the destination of the ship, his hopes were 
totally prostrated. He began to suspect that some- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


161 


thing was wrong with Sir William at Jamestown, 
from his present singular location, and was not a 
little uneasy at the secret and unusual measures 
he had taken to get him into his power. He 
knew the turbulent and impetuous temperament of 
the old knight, and how little he was given to 
consult right and humanity in too many of his 
summary measures of what he chose to call jus- 
tice, to think that he would hesitate one moment 
to summon a court-martial of his own partizans — 
try, condemn, and execute him and his three 
unfortunate followers, if not the more numerous 
body, now also prisoners, in the sloop. As he 
stood upon deck in the midst of his guard, weigh- 
ing these various aspects of his position, the ship 
was silently gliding within view of the lights from 
the city. He observed that the captain steered 
his course as far from the island ^s the channel of 
the river would permit, which confirmed his 
previous suspicions as to, the state of popular feel- 
ing in the capital, and increased his uneasiness as 
to the secret designs of the Governor upon himself. 
From Captain Gardiner he could gain no satisfac- 
tory information — he merely replied to Bacon’s 
demand for his authority, that Governor Berkley 
had commanded him to bring him (Bacon) to 
Accomac, and to deliver him dead or alive into 
his hands. 

When it was too late, Bacon saw the rashness of 
the councils which had induced him to abandon 
14 * 


162 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


his army, and trust himself among the numerous 
ships floating in the river, the commanders of 
which were known adherents of his enemies. 

The reflections of our hero, as he paced the 
quarter deck toward morning, were bitter in the 
extreme. He saw all the bright hopes of his re- 
viving spirits vanish like a dream, as the vessel 
now just emerging from the waters of the Powha- 
tan, and propelled by a fresh morning breeze from 
the land, was plunging with every swell of the 
buoyant waves into the waters of^ the Chesapeake, 
and receding farther and farther at every plunge 
from the objects of his highest and dearest aspira- 
tions. 

That portion of the magnificent bay into which 
they were now entering immediately ahead, was 
expanded and lost to the eye on the limitless waves 
of the ocean. On the starboard tack, like a black 
cloud joining the sea and the sky together, lay 
Cape Henry, and on the larboard, still more faintly 
pencilled against the horizon, lay Cape Charles. 
Between the two, the white bordered waves of the 
Atlantic rolled their swelling volumes into the 
Chesapeake. 

The faint yellow tinge of dawn could just be 
discerned, like a moving shadow, now upon the 
waves and then uponi:?*the hazy clouds, dipping 
into their bosom, while hundreds of aquatic birds, 
interposed like a black cloud at intervals to inter- 
cept the viev/ in the distance, or more suddenly 


k 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


163 


flapped their wings from under the very prow of 
the vessel as they swooped along the surface of the 
stream and dipped the points of their wings like 
a flash of light into the sparkling waters. 

A steady breeze was blowing from oflf the land, 
and the white sails of the ship swelled proudly 
and the tapering spars hent under its influence, as 
she ploughed up the waves foaming and falling in 
divided masses before her prow. On any other 
occasion than the present, Bacon would have en- 
joyed the prospect on this grandest of all inland 
seas, but now his mind was oppressed with gloomy 
doubts and forebodings. Every plunge of the 
vessel was bearing him more within the grasp of 
his relentless foe. But the mishap of his own 
personal adventure, every way unfortunate as it 
was both for himself and the cause in which he had 
engaged, was not that which weighed most op- 
pressively upon his mind. Ever since the dis- 
covery of the miniature contained in the locket, 
he had been gradually giving way to his reviving 
hopeS) and building upon that slender assurance 
bright and glorious superstructures of imagination. 
He had endured and lived, and fought and con- 
quered with that hope, as the polar star to his 
otherwise dark and dreary course. Now again 
his destinies were almost wrecked by a storm from 
a quarter in which he had scarcely cast his eyes. 
How could he imagine that Sir William Berkley 
would be driven from the capital, by the stern 


164 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


and independent resistance of the unarmed citi- 
zens? How could he know that being thus driven 
from it he would yet retain a sufficient naval force 
to capture him and his escort upon the very eve 
of his triumphal entry into the city ? These 
were the reflections which made him look with a 
feeling of dark misanthropy upon the glorious 
beauties of the Chesapeake. His ambition, his 
pride, and his conscience were satisfied; but his 
love for a bride, already once led to the very steps 
of the altar, was again thwarted upon the eve of 
what he had supposed and hoped would prove the 
final and happy fulfilment of his most ardent hopes. 
His feelings toward the devoted and interesting 
maiden, who had perilled and suffered so much on 
his account, were enthusiastic in the highest de- 
gree. She stood toward him not only in the 
relation of his betrothed, but his wedded bride; 
and the more endearing and captivating she be- 
came to him as he contemplated her in these rela- 
tions, the more he cursed in his heart the hard- 
hearted and perverse old man who had been the 
cause of all his troubles. 

Every chance of escape was intensely examined; 
not a word was suffered to fall unheeded from 
Captain Gardiner and his subordinates. He noted 
carefully the distribution of the prisoners in the 
vessel in which he was himself confined, as well as 
of those in the sloop following in their wake. He 
took careful observations of the most prominent 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGIIVIA. 


165 


objects on their route — the state of the tide in the, 
river which they had just left. He examined the 
boats — ^how they were secured — the equipments 
and appearance of the crew on board, and resolved 
if he must fall in the midst of his reviving hopes, 
to die as became the conqueror of Bloody Run and 
the lover of Virginia Fairfax. 


166 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


CHAPTER IX. 


Amid all his misfortunes and gloomy anticipa- 
tions, Bacon discovered one bright spot in his 
horizon. He had inquired of Captain Gardiner 
whether Mr. Beverly had accompanied the Go- 
vernor to Accomac, and was answered in the 
affirmative. This was the source of rejoicing, 
because he believed th^it Virginia was yet in 
Jamestown. Harriet . Harrison’s letter had been 
perused over and over again, during the first part 
of the voyage, and was one cause of that restless 
anxiety to escape which we have attempted to 
describe. 

He chafed the more as his im^igination pictured 
his rival leading, or rather forcing Virginia to the 
altar, while he was thus ignobly detained. But 
now having satisfied himself that Beverly was not 
left behind, hi^ mind was comparatively at ease on 
that score. Nevertheless his desire to escape was 
not diminished ; the state of parties might change 
in the capital — Beverly might return and perpe- 
trate his design while he was yet in confinement. 
That Sir William Berkley intended more than to 
keep him in temporary duress, he could not now- 
in his cooler moments believe — his repinings 
were caused by the interruption to his own cherish- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


167 


ed schemes and ardent desires. He had hoped be- 
fore this time, to be in Jamestown — a conqueror — 
the accepted lover of Virginia Fairfax, and to 
satisfy the Recluse himself, that he was deceived 
as to his birth and parentage. That there was 
some mysterious knowledge of Mrs. Fairfax’s 
history possessed by that strange man, he doubted 
not; but he doubted as little that it had led to 
error with regard to himself. 

The dark shadows of night had already closed 
over the broad expanse of waters on whose bosom 
our hero was thus far borne without chance of es- 
cape. He could discern numerous lights flitting 
along the circumscribed horizon, which he sup- 
posed to be upon the shores of Accomac, from 
the dark curtain which skirted along as far as the 
eye could reach, between the sky and the water. 
He was not left long in doubt upon this point, for 
the sailors were busily engaged furling the broad 
sheets of canvass and heaving over the anchor. 
In a few moments a bright flash illuminated the 
darkness around, followed by the booming sound 
of a piece of ordnance let off from the ship. This 
was answered by another from the shore, and 
Bacon perceived the lights which had before at- 
tracted his attention, moving, as he supposed, to- 
ward the . boat landing, there being no facilities 
for running the ship close in upon the land. These 
he could perceive now rising and falling with the 
swelling and receding waves, and very soon faint- 
ly distinguished voices in confused murmurs as 


168 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


they were borne along the water, and lost amidst 
the roar of the waves lashing against the sides of 
the vessel, and the confused noise and merriment 
of the ship’s crew. 

Captain Gardiner took up his trumpet and 
hailed the approaching boat, after which a dead 
silence ensued on board, all hands listening intent- 
ly for the expected answer. Hoarse and confused 
sounds came sweeping on the wind, as if the per- 
son answering spoke through his hand instead of 
a trumpet, but no distinct words could be made 
Out. Again the captain hailed, ‘‘ boat ahoy,” and 
again with the like result. The wind was un- 
favourable for the transmission of sound, and he 
gave up the attempt. He had scarcely left the 
deck, however, before the boat came riding by on 
the buoyant waves, both parties having been de- 
ceived as to the distance, by their inability to 
intercommunicate. The Captain ran eagerly upon 
deck, and inquired of those in the boat, whether 
the Governor had arrived? The answer was in 
the affirmative. Bacon now understood the anxiety 
of Captain Gardiner to communicate with the shore. 
He learned too, froni the dialogue going on, that 
the Governor and himself were probably crossing 
the bjly at the same time. 

When it was announced to the boat’s crew that 
the rebel chief. Bacon, was a prisoner on board, a 
loud huzza burst simultaneously from twenty 
voices, among which Bacon distinctly recognised 
those of Ludwell and Beverly. Bitter indeed 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


169 


were his unavailing regrets that he had left his 
army, and thus fallen a prey to his most violent 
enemies* He now remembered, with not less re- 
gret, that he had strictly enjoined upon his tem- 
porary successor, not to march into Jamestown 
until he should rejoin the troops. This he saw 
would effectually prevent his present situation 
from becoming known to his friends, until, possi- 
bly it would be too late to render him any assist- 
ance. 

The boat very soon returned in order to ascer- 
tain the Governor’s pleasure with regard to his 
prisoner, and Bacon waited with the most intense 
anxiety for their return* His unavailing regrets 
were rapidly forgotten in a fierce and burning de- 
sire to be confronted with his enemies, alone and 
unsupported as he was. His noble mind could 
scarcely conceive of that malignity which could 
trample upon a solitary and defenceless individual, 
placed by accident in the hands of numerous per- 
sonal enemies. He had yet to learn a bitter les- 
son in the study of human nature. His own im- 
pulses were, all high and generous, and he naturally 
looked even upon his foes as to some extent capa- 
ble of the like magnanimity. He imagined that 
Sir William Berkley, LudwelJ, and Beverly 
would feel and acknowledge his, indignant appeals 
to their honour and chivalry. How these youth- 
ful and sanguine expectations were realized will 
be seen in the sequel. The boat soon returned 
with orders from Sir William Berkley to detain 

VoL. II, 15 


170 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


the prisoner on board during the night, and to 
send him ashore as soon in the morning as it 
should be announced by a shot from a piece of ord- 
nance, that the court had assembled. That he was 
to be tried by a court-martial had barely entered 
his imagination. 

At dawn of day a gun from the shore announced 
the assembling of the court, and Bacon was brought 
upon deck by the orders of the Captain. He per- 
ceived that the ship’s boat was already in the wa- 
ter, supported on each side by larger ones from 
the shore, filled with armed soldiers. However 
much he may have been surprised by these pru- 
dential preparations, he was still more surprised, 
and more fully began to realize his situation, when 
he perceived a man standing ready to secure his 
hands in irons. At first sight of this contemplated 
indignity, he shrank back instinctively with some- 
thing of the natural feelings of youth, but the im- 
pression was only momentary ; he shook it off 
and walked firmly to the smith, near whom stood 
Captain Gardiner, and a guard to do his bidding in 
case of necessity. As the youthful Chieftain ap- 
proached, the hardy veteran of the seas was evi- 
dently embarrassed. He was reluctant to offer 
such a needless affront to one of so bold and manly 
a bearing. An indistinct apology was commenced, 
of which the only parts that Bacon distinguished 
or cared to learn was, that the precaution was 
taken by the orders of Sir William Berkley. “ I 
doubt it not — I doubt it not, sir,” he replied ; 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


171 


Do your duty — I am in his power for the pre- 
sent) and must submit with the best grace I can ; 
but a day of retribution is coming; and even should 
I be basely murdered upon these distant shores, as 
seems not unlikely from these preparations, and 
the tribunal of which I hear they are the precur- 
sors, my death will not go unavenged.” 

His hands, were soon confined within the iron 
bands, connected by chains some two feet in length, 
and then, with the assistance of the Captain and 
crew, he was let down into the boat. He was not 
long in discovering that the military escort in the 
two outer boats was commanded by Mr. Philip 
Ludwell. No sign of recognition took place be- 
tween them, notwithstanding they had moved in 
the same circles at the Capital before the irruption 
of the civil war. Bacon was too much of a soldier 
himself, and too well versed in the duties of a sub- 
ordinate to throw any of the blame of his present 
condition upon his quondam acquaintance, and 
would readily have exchanged the courtesies due 
from one gentleman to another, had he not per- 
ceived a suppressed smile of triumph upon the 
countenance of Ludwell as he entered the boat. 
Whether the latter viewed him as rebel or pa- 
triot he felt indignant at his ungentlemanly con- 
duct, and folding his chained arms upon his man- 
ly chest, took no farther notice of its author. 

As they approached the shore, and the mists of 
early morning began to break away before the 
rising sun. Bacon recognised many landmarks 


172 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGIIVIA, 


which had not altogether been unknown to hfm iia 
happier days. The house at which Sir William 
Berkley now exercised his vice-regal functions- 
surrounded by such of the Cavaliers as still ad- 
hered to his fortunes, became also visible. This 
Bacon recognised as the property of the officer m 
command of the guard surrounding his own per- 
son. The shore was covered with tents, marquees 
and soldiers, the latter being the English merce- 
naries, and marshalled for his reception in imposing 
array. Two lines were formed from the landing 
to the house, between which he was now marched 
in the centre of his guard. 

When they arrived within the hall he found the 
martial tribunal ready assembled for his trial. A 
long table was placed in the centre of the room, 
upon which lay swords, caps, and feathers. At the 
farther end from the entrance sat Sir William 
Berkley, as president of the court, and on either 
side some eight or ten of his officers, all clad in 
the military costume of the day. Their gay dou- 
blets had been exchanged for buff coats, surmount- 
ed by the gorget alone, for the vambraces, with 
their concomitants, had been abandoned during 
the commonwealth. Some of the cavalry and 
pikemen, indeed, still wore bead and back pieces, 
in the king’s army,* but the Virginian officers 
were generally dressed at that time as we have de- 
scribed them. 


* See statutes 13 aud Hth Charles the 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


173 


Among the number of officers now confronting 
the prisoner, sat Francis Beverly. He seemed 
perfectly calm and collected, and not in the least 
aware that there was any impropriety in his sit- 
ting in judgment upon the prisoner standing at the 
foot of the table. 

Bacon drew himself up to his utmost height, as 
he again folded his arms and ran his indignant eye 
over his accusers and judges ; as it rested in its 
course upon Beverly, a fierce indignation lighted 
up its clear hazle outlines, but it was only for an 
instant — his glance wandered on over the other 
members of the court, while his lip curled in a 
settled expression of scorn and contempt. The 
old Cavalier at the head of the board rose in visi- 
ble agitation — his eyes flashed fire and his hands 
trembled as he took the paper from the scribe and 
read the charge against the prisoner. 

The merest form of an impartial trial was inde- 
cently hastened through. Witnesses were not 
Wanting indeed, and those too, who could testify 
to every thing the Governor desired, but no time 
had been allowed the prisoner to procure testi- 
mony in his own behalf, or prepare his defence. 

The times were perhaps somewhat out of joint; 
but the state of the colony was by no means such 
as to require that a prominent citizen, standing 
high in the aflfection of his countrymen, should be 
deprived of those inestimable privileges secured 
by the laws of England, to every one under ac- 
cusation of high crimes and misdemeanors; and 
15 * 


174 (CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 

these laws had been adopted and were in full force 
in the infant state. At the very outset of the 
trial, Gen. Bacon objected to the military cha- 
racter of the court, as well as to the indecent haste 
and the retired nature of the place in which it 
was held. He contended that his crime, if crime 
he had committed, was a civil offence, and ought 
to be tried by the civil tribunals of the country. 
All these weighty objections were answered by a 
waive of the president’s hand, and the trial pro- 
ceeded to its previously well known conclusion, 
without farther interruption. 

Before the final vote was taken upon the question 
whether the prisoner was guilty of high treason or 
not, he was ordered to be removed from the court- 
room for a few moments, in order that their de- 
liberations might be uninterrupted. As the guard 
marched the prisoner through the house into the 
back court of the establishment, his step still proud 
and his carriage elevated with the sense of con- 
scious rectitude, he was at once brought to a stand 
by the sight of a spectacle which sent the blood, 
chilled with horror, back to his heart. Tfiis was 
a gibbet or gallows, erected in the very court to 
which they were conducting him, and upon it 
hung two of his own soldiers!* All evidence of 
vitality had long since departed, and their bodies 
swung round and round, under the impulse bf the 
morning breeze, in horrible monotony. Bacon’s 

* See Sanguinary executions of Bacon's followers— without the 
legal forms of trial, in the Histories of the times. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


175 


first sensation was one of unmixed horror, but 
this was succeeded by indignation; not a thought 
for his own safety occurred to his mind while under 
the first impressions of the fearful spectacle. But 
as fierce indignation stirred up his torpid energies 
to thoughts of revenge, the means began to pre- 
sent themselves, and then it was that he shook 
the iron fetters which bound him, in savage and 
morose despair. Perhaps a chill from some more 
personal feeling ran through his veins, when he 
reflected how short had been the passage of his 
two humble followers from the sloop which had 
borne them across the bay on the preceding night, 
to eternity. They had evidently suffered some 
hours previous — perhaps during the night. They 
were the two subaltern officers— -selected by him- 
self for his expedition down the river, and chosen 
for their desperate bravery at the battle of Bloody 
Run. And now to see their manly proportions 
ignominiously exposed upon a gibbet, after hav- 
ing been most inhumanly murdered, was more 
than he could calmly bear. Bitter and unavailing 
were his reflections as he stood a spectator of this 
outrage, while his own life hung suspended by a 
hair. 

He was not left long a spectator of this cruel 
scene; the guard was ordered to present the pri- 
soner again before the court to receive sentence. 

When Bacon stood once more at the foot of the 
table, surrounded by his unrelenting enemies, his 
countenance evinced a total change. When first 


176 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


he stood in the same place, he had not fully realiz- 
ed his situation; he was stupified with overwatch- 
ing and fatigue. The young are always slow to 
apprehend the darker shadows in their own pro- 
spective, and instinctively cling to the brighter 
aspect of events and circumstances, until some 
sudden calamity or unexpected reverse in their 
own immediate career, opens their eyes to the 
stern reality. When such a change is brought 
immediately before the senses, then indeed the 
dreadful truth speaks direct to the apprehension . 
Few criminals at the moment of receiving sentence 
of death, realize more than a horrid and oppressive 
sense of present calamity — all hope has not yet 
entirely forsaken them. But could they see 
upon the spot a fellow criminal undergoing the last 
penalty of the law, they would at once realize the 
truth in all its terrors. 

The sight of his unfortunate followers had thus 
opened the eyes of the youthful general, to the 
desperate character of his enemies, and the awful 
fate which immediately awaited him, but it was 
not fear which now revived his stupified powers 
to action. His look was bold and daring, while a 
preternatural brilliancy shot from his proud eye, 
as the president of the court, with an assumed calm- 
ness, pronounced upon him the sentence of death. 
As the last fatal word fell from the lips of the 
stern old knight, the prisoner’s countenance was 
rigid, cold and deathlike for an instant, as he 
struggled to master his rebellious and scornful 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


177 


feelings into such a state of discipline as would 
enable him to express the little he had to say, with 
clearness and precision. 

Although the usual question, ‘Mf he had any 
thing to say why sentence of death should not 
be pronounced against him,’’ was not asked, he 
stepped boldly up to the end of the hoard, and 
notwithstanding the magisterial waive of the presi- 
dent’s hand for silence, and a simultaneous order 
to the officer of the guard to remove him — gave 
utterance to his feelings in these words, and with 
a manner powerfully subdued, yet energetic ; his 
voice issuing from between his rigidly set teeth 
like that of one under the influence, of reckless 
desperation. 

If it may so please the president, and gentle- 
men of the court-martial, T will not tamely and 
silently submit myself to be butchered in cold 
blood, without raising my voice and protesting 
against the jurisdiction of the court — the time — 
the place — the manner of the trial — the persons 
who compose the court, and especially him who 
presides over your deliberations. . 

Was it treason I committed, when I boldly and 
openly marched from Jamestown to Orapacks, at 
the head of the brave men who drove before them 
the savages by whom the dwellings of the Colony 
had been burned, and its women and children mur- 
dered. Did not the house of burgesses request the 
Governor to sign the commission, which the peo> 
pie had unanimously put into my hands ? Did he 


178 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


not pledge his knightly word that the commis- 
sions should be ratified? Under the authority of 
that commission and that promise, have I not 
driven the enemies of civilized man before me, as 
I marched through the Peninsula ? Have I not 
done what has never before been done ? cut out 
a broad line of separation between the habitations 
of the white man and the savage ? Have I not 
avenged the murders committed on the night of 
the massacre ? Have I not avenged injuries com- 
mitted against more than one member of this very 
court, by the bloody confederation ? Have I not, 
with these hands, rescued the sister-in-law of the 
president of this very tribunal from the murder- 
ous tomahawk of the savages ? True, it was only 
to die — but it was worthy of all my poor exertions 
to rescue her body from their unhallowed hands, 
that it might rest in consecrated ground. Have I 
not annihilated the confederation itself, cut to pieces 
the assembled tribes— rescued the prisoners, razed 
to the ground the fortifications at the falls, and 
made prisoners of the brave remnant of those mis- 
guided nations who erected it ? If this be treason, 
then indeed am I a traitor ! 

Why is if that this great and glorious country, 
opened to the oppressed and crowded nations of 
the old world by a kind and beneficent Providence, 
must so often become the theatre of struggles for 
personal aggrandizement and power ? Why is it 
that our arms must be turned against ourselves in 
fratricidal conflict, when so many enemies have 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


179 


been swarming upon our frontiers, and devastating 
our settlements ? Must the great and evident de- 
signs of the Creator be thus constantly retarded? 
the great destinies of this vast land obscured in the 
dawn, by the petty struggles of contending chief- 
tains ? Who can tell how far to the mighty west 
the tide of civilization and emigration would have 
rolled their swelling waves, but for the scenes 
of personal rivalry and contention like the pre- 
sent, which have disgraced our annals ? 

‘‘The rosy tints of the morning dawn of destiny 
have scarcely risen in the east of this mighty con- 
tinent — the boldest and the wildest imagination 
cannot soar into futurity, and predict its noon- 
day glories, or count up the tides and floods of hu- 
man beings, that shall he wafted to these shores, 
and thence roll in successive waves, to the dark 
and as yet unknown west. 

“ I have been but an humble instrument in the 
hands of the Great Mover of these mighty currents, 
and for this ye seek my life. . But death to this 
frail body cannot arrest the great movement, in 
which I have been an actor. I hav^ indeed been 
the first to point Out the importance of drawing a 
broad line of separation between the European and 
the native, the first to show the necessity of rolling 
to the west the savage hordes, as the swelling 
numbers of our own countrymen increase upon 
our hands. Future emigration must advance west- 
ward in a semicircular wave — like a kindred bil- 


180 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


low of the watery ocean, sweeping all obstruction 
before it. 

‘‘If the natives flee before this rolling tide, and 
survive its destructive progress, well and happy 
will it be for them ; but if they attempt to buffet 
the storm, ruin hangs upon their tardy footsteps. 
I confess that 1 have been the first to maintain the 
impossibility of the two species living together in 
peace, and to execute the primitive and opening 
step in this great revolution of nations. If this be 
treason, then am I a traitor. But if I fall, think 
not that the great movement shall fall with me. 
The Great Ruler of the universe has opened these 
fertile hills and dales to his oppressed creatures ; 
and he has likewise pointed out the necessity of 
driving back them who make no use of these bless- 
ings, and who rise not from their idolatry and 
ignorance to a state fitted to render glory to their 
Creator. The tide will move on to the westward, 
in spite of such tribunals as this. If I am to die 
here in this insulated neck of land, by the hands 
of those who are themselves prisoners, so be it — 
I shall die contented in the knowledge that I have 
not lived in yain, and that future generations will 
rescue from oblivion the name of him who first 
opened an avenue to the mighty and unknown 
west, and however illegally my life may be taken, 
I will show you that I can die as becomes a soldier 
and a Cavalier. One request I would fain make, 
even of them whose actions I abhor and despise ; 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


181 


it is this ; as you have tried and condemned me 
by a military tribunal, that you inflict upon me 
the death of a soldier. This is a request which I 
would alike make to a heathen or an infidel.” 

“ Take him immediately to the gallows,’^ 
shouted Sir William Berkley. 

The officer of the guard approached with his 
myrmidons, and laid hold of the prisoner, in ac- 
cordance with the mandate of the Governor 5 but 
three or four members of the court rose at once, 
and expressed their willingness to allow the pri- 
soner until the succeeding day to prepare for exe- 
cution. 

‘‘ Away with him, away with him,” again 
vociferated the president, at the same tinve, menac- 
ing the official who stood holding the prisoner, 
doubtful how to' act, and apparently willing to lis- 
ten to the more merciful suggestion. By this time 
the whole court was in confusion and uproar ; every 
member was upon his feet, together with the pre- 
sident, each one endeavouring to be heard, A 
large majority of the members were for the longest 
time, and these now demanded of the Governor to 
submit the question to the court ; but the old 
knight, having probably discovered that Ludwell 
and Beverly were his only supporters, clamor- 
ously persisted in ordering the prisoner to instant 
execution. 

Bacon himself, during this time, at first stood 
with his arms folded and a bitter smile of contempt 
playing upon his features, until the turmoil growing 

VoL. II. 16 


182 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


louder and more protracted, he too attempted to 
obtain a hearing. “ It is perfectly indifferent to 
rne,’’ said he, ‘‘ whether I am murdered to-mor- 
row, or at the next moment j let the hour come 
when it may, my blood be upon your skirts!’’ 

His manly bearing served to reanimate those who 
contended for delay, and the strife continued to 
grow more noisy and turbulent, until, as if by 
magic, a side door of the apartment opened, and a 
new actor appeared upon the scene. The court was 
instantaneously hushed to silence, and Sir William 
Berkley stood as if he beheld an apparition, while 
Bacon bounded forward and clasped Virginia, who 
rushed into his outstretched (but fettered) arms. 

When she first gently pushed open the door, not 
one of the court or of the attendants perceived her. 
She was clad in the loose folds of the sick cham- 
ber — her blond curls fell in unheeded ringlets over 
her brow, temples and shoulders — her face was pale 
as monumental marble, and her frame weak and 
trembling, while a preternatural excitement of the 
moment shot from her eyes, as she gazed through 
the partly opened door, to ascertain if her ears had 
not deceived her. 

Not a word was uttered louder than a deep im- 
passioned whivsper, until Virginia perceived the 
chains upon his hands, when seizing the iron by 
the middle she stepped forward and boldly elevat- 
ing her head, addressed Sir] William — “Whence 
these chains, sir? — rtell me quickly; tell me that 
they have not been put on by your orders — before 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


183 


I curse the hour that united my destiny in any 
manner with yours!” 

‘‘ Not only were they imposed by my orders, 
but they were so put on in preparation for a cere- 
mony which shall alike cure you of your vagaries 
and release me from his hated presence for ever! 
Guard, lead her to her chamber, and the prisoner 
to execution!” 

Scarcely had the words died upon his lips, ere 
she sprang from the grasp of the officer, and locked 
her hands around the neck of her lover, exclaim- 
ing, ‘‘Now you may shoot him through me — no 
ball enters his body but through mine. You may 
hack off my arms with your swords, but until 
then I will never leave him!^^ 

The Governor and Beverly now came forward, 
and each of them seizing a hand, they tore her 
from his embrace, in the midst of a wild hysteri- 
cal laugh, hot however before Bacon had imprint- 
ed a kiss upon her pale forehead, and uttered a 
brief and agonizing farewell. He then seated him- 
self upon a chair, and covering his face with his 
hands, gave himself up to emotions which had not 
before been awakened during his trial. 

As they were leading Virginia from the room, 
she suddenly recovered her composure, sprang 
from their grasp, and] placing herself against the 
wall, between two of the officers of the court, who 
were still standing, clung to their arms while she 
thus addressed Frank Beverly — “ And this is the 
method you have taken to win your way to my 


184 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


favour — this is the plan you have devised to rid 
yourself of a rival. And you too, his deadly ene- 
my — to sit in judgment upon him, and mock 
justice by the cowardly device. Out upon you, 
sir, for a craven-hearted dastard. Is this the way 
you were to meet and conquer him in battle ? 
Where are your trophies for my bridal turban, 
taken from the standards of his followers? You 
take trophies from Bacon in battle! One glance 
of his manly eye would drive the blood chilled 
to your craven heart, and wither the muscles of 
your coward arm.” 

Again she was seized, and dragged from the 
court-room by the Governor and Beverly. In a 
few moments the president returned, and found 
the court proceeding in his absence deliberately 
to take the question on granting the prisoner until 
the succeedingjday to prepare for death, and allow- 
ing him the attendance of a clergyman. Sir Wil- 
liam was fearful perhaps, that by resisting the will 
of the majority, he should defeat his purpose, and 
therefore acquiesced in what he could not prevent, 
with more amenity than might have been expected 
from his previous violence. 

The prisoner had not so suddenly regained his 
equanimity; he was indeed making strenuous ex- 
ertions to that end, but now and then a pierc- 
ing scream from the upper chambers of the man- 
sion thrilled through his nerves, and more than 
once h% suddenly sprang to his feet, and made an 
attempt to rush past his vigilant keepers, but was 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


18 $ 


as quickly reminded of his helplessness by the 
jarring sound of his fetters, and the ready grasp of 
the officials* After several such attempts, he at 
length folded his arms, and gave himself up to bit- 
ter reflections — a w^retched smile flashing athwart 
his countenance indicating the violence of the 
internal struggle and the cruel pangs that rent his 
bosom. 

The majority of the court having triumphed in 
the first matter, the question was again raised as 
to the manner of his death, and Bacon’s counte- 
nance was actually lit up by a smile when he heard 
the decision of the court in favour of his own re- 
quest, that he might die the death of a soldier. 
The guard were at the moment leading him from 
the court room to his prison house, and his step 
became more firm and elastic, and he could now 
look upon the wretched spectacle in the court, 
without the same degree of horror which he had 
before evinced. 

When he had marched several paces in his pro- 
gress round the mansion, he halted suddenly and 
wheeled round to survey the dormer windows 
peering through the roof, as was the fashion with 
the long low houses of the time. His eye rested 
from its piercing and steady gaze, in sadness and 
disappointment, and he threw down his chained 
hands with a violent motion, as he resumed his 
march between the soldiers. They conducted him 
to the door of a cellar at the end of tlie house. 


186 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


which was secured with double defences; in the 
next moment he was rudely thrust into a damp 
cellar, without a ray of light, and the door was 
closed and securely bolted. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


187 


CHAPTER X. 


Bacon heard the rusty bolt shoot into its socket, 
and then the hasping and locking of the outside 
door, with a sensation of utter hopelessness. He 
wandered through the dark precincts of his prison, 
stumbling now over an old barrel, and anon 
against a meat block, until he came to some dry 
bundles of fodder, which seemed to have been 
spread out in one corner to answer the purpose of 
a bed. Before throwing himself upon this rude 
couch, he resolved to examine the structure of his 
cell. By passing his hands along the walls, he 
found that they were built of brick, well cemented 
by a long process of time — that the summit upon 
which the basement beams of the frame rested, 
were entirely out of his reach, and that in the pre- 
sent confined state of his hands, it would be im- 
possible for him to make any impression on them, 
and he could distinctly hear the tramp of more 
than one sentinel, as they paced their monotonous 
rounds about that wing of the building. There 
was yet much of the day remaining, and he re- 
solved to spend it in endeavouring to grind off the 
end of the rivets to the iron bands enclosing his 
wrists. By rubbing these against the bricks, he 
found that he could wear them away by a tedious 


18 S 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


and labc^rious process. Our hero was not one of 
those who surrender themselves up to desponden- 
cy at the first appearance of insurmountable diffi- 
culties ; decision of character was his most striking 
quality, and he knew that his devoted army only 
waited for him to lead them to avenge his wrongs. 
He felt the difficulties which lay between him and 
Jamestown, but he did not despair, however despe- 
rate his circumstances. For many hours he perse- 
vered in grinding the rivets against the bricks; 
with wrenching and great danger of dislocating 
his wrists, he at length succeeded in so wearing 
down the iron, that he could at any moment throw 
aside the manacles. Encouraged with this success, 
he moved the meat-block against the wall, and 
made all preparations for a breach, as soon as he 
should be satisfied that the darkness of night would 
cover his movements. 

To while away the time usefully, he threw him- 
self upon his rude bed, arid was soon, from the 
effects of great previous mental excitement and 
bodily fatigue, wrapt in profound slumber. 

The shadows of night had closed around this 
land in the midst of waters in sombre hues, and 
the prisoner still slept profoundly. 

In the mean time circumstances were in progress 
on the bay, which had a most important bearing 
upon the fate of every one then at Accomac. 

It has already been stated that Sir William 
Berkley had put in requisition such of the naval 
power as he could bring to bear upon his immedi- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


189 


ate designs and pressing necessities. But, after 
leaving the city in the precipitate manner which 
has been related, the citizens determined to sum- 
mon to their aid, such of the ships and other ves- 
sels of war and merchandise, as yet remained in 
the river, within convenient distance of the city, 
and make the old knight a prisoner at Accomac. 

The Governor had not long been gone before ari 
armament superior to his own, was seen steering 
in the course which he had taken. This con^- 
sisted of one ship, a bark of four guns, a sloop 
and schooner.’^ The expedition was under the 
joint command of Giles Bland and William Car^ 
ver, both veteran and experienced seamen. On 
board of one of the vessels, and subordinate to the 
officers just mentioned, was Captain Larimore ; he 
was one of the most devoted friends of Sir William 
Berkley, but his personal predilections and loyal 
principles were entirely unknown, either at James- 
town or on board the fleet. When this (at that 
time) formidable armament arrived in sight of the 
vessels at anchor, which had borne Sir William 
and his partisans to Accomac, it being now dark, 
(on the same evening in which Bacon lay sleeping 
in his dungeon,) Capt. Larimore proposed to his 
superior officers, that he would take one or two reso^ 
lute tars, and, avoiding the hostile vessels, land and 
reconnoitre the position and forces of the Governor. 

His proposition was promptly acceded to, and 
Larimore launched his boat, selected his men, 
and protected by the thickness of the fog and the 


190 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


darkness of the night, succeeded in effecting his 
landing unperceived by the vessels in the service 
of the Governor. If he had been aware of Bacon’s 
imprisonment and condemnation, and disposed to 
do so, he might have rendered him the most im- 
portant services; but whether disposed to hazard 
any thing in his cause or not, both he and his su- 
periors were ignorant of Bacon’s fate. 

When the boat containing the adventurer and 
his two associates struck the shore, Larimore im- 
mediately sprang upon the beach and ordered his 
subordinates to push a few yards out into the bay, 
and remain within sound of his whistle. He 
proceeded directly towards the quarters of Sir 
William Berkley, until he was challenged by one 
of the sentinels with his carbine at his breast. La- 
rimore desired the sentinel to lead him to the Go- 
vernor. As soon as he had made himself known 
to his Excellency, he informed him of his disposi- 
tion to advance the cause of the loyal party, and 
submitted the following proposition. 

He requested the Governor to send one or two 
of his most daring and trusty officers, with one 
hundred rosolute men in boats or canoes, during 
that portion of the night when he should himself 
be in command of the watch — and promised that 
he would deliver the whole armament into the 
hands of the Governor. Sir William immediately 
summoned his officers and made the proposition 
known to them — requesting, at the same time that 
any gentleman who desired to be entrusted with 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 191 

the expedition would step forward. Philip Lud- 
well promptly acceded to the offer, and tender- 
ed his services, which were as promptly accept- 
ed. Ludwell having selected his supporters from 
the hardiest of the troops and sailors, he held him- 
self in readiness to push off as soon as the appointed 
hour should arrive. Larimore giving the concerted 
signal, sprang into his boat and returned to those 
who sent him, with a very different account of 
Sir William’s position and intentions from that 
we have just related. 

All this time Bacon was sleeping as soundly 
upon his bed of corn blades, as if it was not to be 
his last sleep on earth. Criminals condemned 
to death generally do sleep soundly the night pre- 
ceding their execution, ^and Bacon, whether cri- 
minal or not, was no exception to the rule. 

It was some hours after the sun had gone down, 
and about the same time that Larimore put off to 
his vessel, when Bacon suddenly started up from 
his rude couch, under an oppressive sense of 
glaring light upon his eye balls. An aged and 
decrepid woman was leaning over him ; she was 
resting upon her knees, in one hand holding the 
lamp and in the other the locket which had already 
exercised such an important influence upon his 
destiny. She had sprung the lid, during his sleep, 
and was now gazing upon the beautiful picture, 
with an interest and amazement not less intense 
than he had himself manifested on its first disco- 
very in the Indian wigwam. So absorbed was 


192 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


her every faculty, that his sudden start from sleep 
scarcely attracted her attention. Her eyes were 
filled with water in the vain endeavour to decfpher 
the outlines with convincing accuracy. When the 
date and the initials and the hair were submitted 
to a like scrutiny, conviction settled at once upon 
her mind. The feeling operated slowly at first, 
but as one doubt gave way after another, her pale 
and haggard features began perceptibly to assume 
the life and vigour of deep excitement. The locket 
fell from her grasp, and she clasped her hands — 
but suddenly throwing back the curling masses 
from his brow she exclaimed: “Tell me, my 
master, are you called Nathaniel Bacon?” 

“I am! but tell mein your turn, why do you 
ask?” 

She answered only by exclaiming, “0 merci- 
ful Heaven! God be praised! Wonderful are 
the ways of Providence!” Bacon was on his 
knees also, his manacled hands laid upon her 
shoulders as he anxiously and hastily inquired, 
“ Tell me, good mother, what do you know of 
Nathaniel Bacon?” 

“More than he knows of himself, mayhap!” 

“Speak it quickly — moments are more pre- 
cious than diamonds — say, whence comes your 
knowledge? who are you? who am I? for God’s 
sake tell me quickly!” 

“You are the son of as worthy a gentleman as 
ever wore a sword. I knew him and your ho- 
noured mother well — that is, if you are the same 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


193 


mischievous boy whom I have mourned as drown- 
ed these many long and lonesome years.” 

The captive waited to hear no more, but spring- 
ing upon his feet, paced wildly round the damp 
cellar like one in a delirium of joy. The old w’oman 
still maintained her humble posture, her hands 
again clasped, and her long wrinkled neck turning 
with difficulty to follow the strange movements of 
the prisoner. Suddenly, and as if stricken down 
by a cannon shot, he threw himself upon the 
earth his whole frame convulsed with thoughts 
of his present hopeless condition. “What mat- 
ters it whetlier I am Nathaniel Bacon or not^ 
What will it avail, this time to-morrow, when 
these limbs, now so full of life and vigour in the re- 
newal of hope, will be still in the cold embrace 
of death?” 

“ Death !” the old woman screamed, rising 
from her knees, seizing the lamp and thrusting it in 
Bacon’s face — “ Death, did you say, my son? or did 
my old ears deceive me with the horrible word ?” 

They did not,-?-truer words were never 
spoken or heard ; to-morrow, before the sun has 
measured an hour in the heavens, the voice which 
now addresses you, will be silenced in the ever- 
lasting sleep of death !” 

Horror struck his auditor dumb; her shrivelled 
lips moved with a tremulous motion, as if she de- 
sired to speak— but she spoke not. An ashy pale- 
ness overspread her features, and she staggered 
backward and would have fallen, had she not been 
VoL. II. 17 


1.94 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


caught in the arms of her long-lost foster son. A 
tumult of thoughts crowded upon her enfeebled 
mind, as she recovered, gasping with the unusual 
excitement, and her aged frame heaved as if it 
would burst in the effort. At length a ray of hope 
seemed to dawn upon her mental vision ; her eye 
sparkled with the thought, as she resumed the 
lamp which Bacon had taken from her hand, and 
placed upon the ground. “ It must not, shall not 
be, my son. There is your coarse food. Heaven 
forgive me for not offering you better, but little 
did my thoughts turn upon such a godsend. I 
- have a thousand things to ask and tell, but as you 
say, life — precious life — hangs upon every mo- 
ment lost, so — ” 

At this moment the sentinel advanced di- 
rectly before them, and taking the old woman 
rudely by the arm, said, “ Come, old Tabby, the 
prisoner can find the way to his mouth without the 
light ; give him his bread and water, and be off 
thrusting her up the steps, as he spoke, slamming 
the door, and once more turning the grating bolt 
upon thp unfortunate prisoner. 

Bacon’s late reviving hopes almost died within 
him as he listened to the unwelcome sounds and 
the retreating footsteps of his visiters. 

He threw himself once more upon his rude 
couch and abandoned himself to despair. But 
youthful hope never despairs utterly, however 
desperate the circumstances ; a few moments after 
saw him with his handcuffs thrown off, and busily 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


195 


engaged in piling the loosened bricks upon the 
floor. In less than an hour, he beheld the stars 
lightly twinkling in the Heavens, through the 
aperture created by the removal of a single brick, 
which he had taken from the outer layer before 
he was aware of his progress. Cautiously and 
intently he listened for the footsteps of the sen- 
tinel; strange sounds seemed to come from oflf the 
water, but all in his immediate vicinity was as 
quiet as the grave, except the tumultuous throb- 
bing of his own heart. Again he proceeded cau- 
tiously in his work, until he had completed an 
aperture sufficiently large to admit the passage 
of his body. Then, bracing his nerves, he pro- 
ceeded to effect his exit through the opening, 
and was vigorously struggling to free himself, 
when a musket ball whistled by his ear and bu- 
ried itself in the wooden sill of the house. He 
sprang back into the cellar, and stood in confusion 
and amazement, until the short chuckling laugh of 
the sentinel roused him from his delusive dream 
of hope. He could distinctly hear the marksman 
who had exhibited such a dangerous proof of his 
skill, laughing and telling his comrade,, who paced 
before the door at the end of the house, “how 
he had shaved the prisoner’s head.” The unfor- 
tunate captive now abandoned himself to despair 
in earnest. A thousand times he cursed his ill 
fated stars, for thus leading the old nurse into his 
cell to rouse his dormant hopes, and give a new 
impulse to his desires for freedom. 


196 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


While these matters were in progress at the 
prison of our hero, the naval armament under the 
command of Bland, Carver and Larimore, be- 
longing to and put in motion by his ffiends among 
the citizens, and which might have rendered him 
such effectual assistance had the two principal of- 
ficers been aware of his situation, was itself about 
to perform its share in the contest. The expedi- 
tion under Ludwell, as had been promised to the 
traitor Larimore, was sent out at the exact time 
specified, and with muffled oars skimmed along 
the surface of the tranquil lake, keeping under the 
shadow of the ships. As they approached, signals 
were exchanged, which satisfied Ludwell that 
Larimore was indeed in command of the watch, 
and still ready to betray his trust. Once or, twice, 
indeed, a suspicion shot across his mind, that Lari- 
more might only be an agent in the hands of Bland 
and Carver, and that his proposal was but a scheme 
laid to entrap himself and followers into the power 
of the rebels, as the Governor’s party were pleased 
to call the patriots; but it was as speedily dis- 
sipated by the favourable train in which every thing 
seemed to lie, as the traitor had promised. 

The loyal party under his command was in a 
very few minutes silently and stealthily climbing 
up the sides of the vessels. Having gained the 
decks, they proceeded at once to disarm and bind 
the sentinels. These unfortunate fellows bad been 
induced by the traitor Larimore, to believe that 
the party under Ludwell were deserters from th© 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


197 


ranks of Sir William Berkley, and were not un- 
deceived until they found themselves bound hand 
and foot, and such other precautions taken that 
they could not alarm their sleeping comrades 
below. In less time than we have taken to record 
the transaction, the whole naval armament in the 
service of the patriots, together with the officers, 
crews and military stores, were delivered into the 
hands of Governor Berkley. The success of the 
enterprise was announced to the anxious expectants 
on shore, by a discharge of artillery, which was 
joyously answered on their part. Sir William 
Berkley was transported with delight — so lately 
abandoned by the majority of the citizens and 
soldiers of the capital, and compelled to desert the 
legitimate seat of government, he now saw himself 
in possession of a naval and military power, more 
than sufficient to command the obedience, if he 
could not win the affections of the rebellious citi- 
zens. He immediately called together his officers, 
and such of the cavalier gentry as had followed 
his fortunes to this remote corner of the colony, 
and imparted to them his determination to embark 
his land forces on board the ships brought over by 
himself, and those surrendered by Larimore, and 
sail within the hour for the capital. 

It may be readily imagined that this sudden 
change in their fortunes was not received with 
murmurs and discontent; on the contrary prepa- 
rations were eagerly and joyously commenced. 
The captured and betrayed patriots were divided 


198 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


among all the vessels, so as to preclude efifectually 
any chance of their rising upon the Governor and 
his party. The soldiers, artillery and baggage 
were placed on board, and the signal given for the 
embarkation of the old knight and his staff — 
family and attendants. 

Our gentle heroine was not forgotten — she too 
had been roused, not from her slumbers, for she 
had not slept, but from her restless and feverish 
pillow, and commanded to prepare 'for instant de- 
parture for the capital. The stern old Cavalier, 
her uncle, stood in the open plot in front of the 
house surrounded by his partisans, impatiently 
waiting her descent. At length she appeared, 
leaning upon the arm of Frank Beverly on one 
side, and that of her female attendant upon the 
other — her aunt following in evident dejection of 
spirits. Virginia’s countenance was white as the 
spotless attire in which she was enveloped. Her 
eye wildly wandered over the faces crowding 
around, as she emerged from the house, but soon 
settled again in sullen composure as she perceived 
the absence of the one sought. The pine torches, 
borne by the negroes, shed a glaring and unsteady 
light on the objects around; the steady tramp of the 
soldiers, as they marched to and embarked on 
board the boats, were heard in the direction of 
the water, while other parties were seen in like 
manner provided with torches, floating in the 
barks already laden, toward the ships moored in 
the offing. As the party that had just emerged 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


199 


from the house was about to move in the same 
direction, Beverly spoke aloud to the Governor. 

“ Sir William, are you going to leave the prison- 
er in the cellar?’^ 

“True — true, my boy/’ he replied, “I was so 
overjoyed at trapping so many of his compeers, 
that I had entirely forgotten his generalship; but 
we will care for his standing, and that right speedi- 
ly. We will elevate him — I will not say above 
his desert — but certainly to a position to which he 
has long had eminent claims. Ho! Sir Hang- 
man! Ludwell, order the hangman inta our 
presence; we need a cast of his office before we 
set sail.” 

“ It was customary with the Romans, you 
know, Sir William, to offer up a sacrifice before 
they embarked upon any important enterprise,” 
said Beverly, laughing at his own wretched at- 
tempt at wit. But there was one countenance in 
the group upon which the first intimation of 
Beverly concerning the neglect of the prisoner, 
wrought a fearful change. Virginia threw her 
eyes wildly round, searching from face to face, 
for some small evidence of sympathy on which to 
cast her hopes, but they were all steeled in imper- 
turbable apathy, or clad in more appalling smiles 
of derision. As her eye glanced around the 
circle, it fell at last upon the youth supporting her 
own enfeebled steps. Her knees were just sink- 
ing under her from weakness and dismay, but the 
sight of Frank Beverly’s smiling countenance 


200 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


aroused her energies. Her muscles were instantly 
braced, her eye shot forth scorn and contempt, 
while she threw his arms from her, as she would 
have started from the touch of some loathsome 
reptile. The youth, with a grim smile, folded his 
arms in quiet serenity, to await the appearance of 
the prisoner, as if conscious that his hour of sweet 
revenge was near at hand. 

Virginia threw herself at the feet, first of her 
uncle, and then of her aunt, and earnestly prayed 
for the life of her lover, as she heard the orders 
for bringing him forth, but from the first she re- 
ceived only a contemptuous glance, and from the 
latter silent tears. She was still kneeling upon 
the grass at the feet of the latter, her head fallen 
in despair and exhaustion upon her bosom, when the 
soldiers rushed out from the cellar, and proclaim- 
ed the escape of the prisoner. An electric stream 
poured into Virginia’s sinking frame could not 
have more suddenly restored her to life and anima- 
tion. She screamed, clasped her hands, sprang 
to her feet, and fell back into the arms of her aunt 
in a paroxysm of mingled joy and agitation. 

Sir William Berkley gnashed his teeth, and 
swearing vengeance against the traitors who had 
permitted his enemy’s escape, seized one of the 
pine torches and rushed into the cellar to satisfy 
himself that he was not concealed behind some of 
the rubbish of the apartment; but soon found con- 
vincing evidence of his escape, in the irons that 
lay upon the ground, and the aperture through 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


201 


which he had made his exit. The sentinels were 
all called up, who had at any time stood guard over 
the prisoner through the night. It appeared that 
the one who had discharged his piece so near to 
the head of the prisoner, had been some time since 
relieved, and that he had merely mentioned to his 
successor, the attempt of Bacon to escape, with 
his own amusement in showing him how near he 
could shoot to his head without wounding him. 

“ Would to God you had lodged the ball in his 
skull, exclaimed the enraged governor. The 
truth was, that the sentinel had supposed the 
prisoner still loaded with his irons when he ap- 
peared at the breach, having merely discovered 
one of the many evidences of dilapidation in the 
house, and had consequently left him in the care 
of his successor, with the full confidence that he 
would not make a second attempt. How he was 
induced to make that second attempt will appear 
in the sequel. The soldier on duty, at the time 
when he was supposed to have escaped, was im- 
mediately ordered to be put in irons. 

Lady Berkley was about having her niece con- 
veyed to the house, but her enraged husband 
harshly ordered those supporting her now pros- 
trate form, to convey her to the vessel, which was 
accordingly done. The Governor, his suite and 
followers were soon also on board, and a roar of 
artillery announced their final departure from the 
‘^eastern shore.’’ 

When Bacon threw himself upon his couch, 
after his last unfortunate attempt to escape, every 


202 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


thought of once more gaining his liberty aban- 
doned him. He very naturally supposed that his 
failure would only redouble the vigilance of his 
guards, and therefore resumed his irons, with the 
desperate resolution of throwing them off, when 
he should be led to execution on the following 
morning, and selling his life as dearly as he might. 

He had lain for some hours in a state of mind 
that may be readily imagined from the late scenes 
through which he had passed, when at length he 
heard his own name softly whispered in his gloomy 
cell; the voice appeared to be in his immediate 
vicinity. He arose and followed the supposed 
direction of the sound, and again he heard it on 
the opposite side — proceeding from the still un- 
closed aperture in the wall. He answered in the 
same, subdued whisper. “ Come this way,” said 
the voice of the old woman, the shadow of whose 
head he could now perceive darkening the partial 
light which broke through. ‘‘ Come this way, 
Master Bacon. Tim Jones, the sentinel, has gone 
into my cabin to eat a chicken supper, and drink 
some aqua vitae which I procured for him; his place 
is supplied by a soldier whom I engaged to be 
ready, as if by accident. He pretends to be asleep 
under the big tree yonder. Do you come forth 
and proceed round the opposite end of the house 
to that occupied by the other sentinel, until you 
come to the bushes at the end of the garden pal- 
ings — there wait until I come to you — for your 
life do not stir, until I join you there.” 

Bacon succeeded in avoiding the notice of the 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


203 


sentry and in gaining the spot indicated by the 
old woman, where he had scarcely concealed him- 
self, before the discharge of artillery from the 
betrayed fleet startled him from his recumbent 
posture. He supposed that his own capture had 
been ascertained at Jamestown, and that vessels 
had been despatched to rescue him. This idea 
had scarcely entered his mind, before he sprang 
over the palings and was running at his utmost 
speed across the garden toward the bay, for the 
purpose of procuring a boat, but his attention was 
instantly arrested by the appearance of the Go- 
vernor and his suite collecting in the yard in front 
of the house. He was on the point of running 
into the hands of the sentinel whose tenoiporary ab- 
sence had afforded him the chance of escape, and 
who now sat with his weapon ready for action,, 
securely guarding, as he supposed, the person who> 
stood just behind him. The man hailed him as 
soon as he heard the rustling among the shrubbery,, 
but the liberated captive had seen and heard enough 
to induce him to seek his hiding-place once more. 


204 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


CHAPTER XL 


When Sir William Berkley embarked on board 
t)ie ships, he left a company of picked soldiers, 
commanded by an officer of tried fidelity, together 
with the smallest of the vessels and her crew, with 
orders to bring the fugitive to Jamestown, dead or 
alive. In a short time that portion of the eastern 
shore, lately so full of bustle and activity, was 
wrapped in profound repose, unbroken save by the 
monotonous tramp of the sentinel, pacing before 
the door of the mansion, now the solitary quarters 
of the sole remaining officer. 

Bacon had perceived from his hiding-place, that 
some unusual commotion was in progress between 
the quarters of the Governor and the ships lying 
in the offing, and he was seized with the most 
eager desire to know what it foreboded. For the 
first half hour, he lay in momentary expectation 
of the commencement of a naval action ; at length 
he saw the glaringlights of the pine torches, skim- 
ming along the margin of the water, and dark 
shadows of moving crowds, as the boats floated to 
their destination. These movements he could not 
comprehend except by supposing that the crafty 
old knight had set on foot some secret expedi- 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


205 


tion, for the capture of the newly arrived ships, 
the increased numbers of which he could easily 
perceive. But when the whole fleet set sail, with 
the exception of the small craft already men- 
tioned, he was completely at fault. He was re- 
volving these strange movements in his mind, 
when his kind preserver came again to his assist- 
ance. She was moving like an unearthly spirit 
along the garden palings, cautiously examining 
every bush, when he presented himself before 
her. She led him by a circuitous route, and one 
the farthest removed from the sentinel, to a lone 
cabin that stood some distance from the main build- 
ing, and that had lately been occupied by the in- 
ferior officers attached to Sir William's cause ; it 
had formerly been used as a negro cabin. After 
she had ushered him into the single room which 
it afibrded, she pointed to a seat, and began stir- 
ring up the coals which had been left from the 
culinary operations of the late occupants. She 
was about sitting down to hear Bacon’s account 
of himself, and doubtless of communicating her 
share of information for filling out the history, but 
recollecting that he had left his food untouched, 
she hastily covered the light, and went out, care- 
fully securing the door on the outside, but soon 
returned with a remnant of Tim Jones’ chicken 
supper, which she had no doubt preserved for her 
own use. This was speedily placed upon a rude 
table, and the fugitive urged to help himself in 
the midst of a torrent of questions. — Now she de- 
VoL. II. IS 


206 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


sired to know the fate of the Irishman — where 
they had landed after the shipwreck — ^who had 
so kindly nurtured and educated him — whether 
he knew any thing of his relations in England — 
if he remembered any thing of her features, or 
her home in the old country. What was his oc- 
cupation. Why Sir William Berkley disliked 
him, in what position he stood with regard to the 
beautiful invalid, who had shown so much grief 
at the prospect of his immediate execution,-^ 
how he had managed to preserve the locket so 
faithfully — and a hundred other queries of like 
import, with the solution to which the reader is 
already acquainted, but which our hero answered 
with great impatience, interposing one of his own 
between every two of hers, and meanwhile doing 
ample justice to the provision she had set before 
him. The substance of the old woman’s narrative 
was as follows : 

** When Mrs. Fairfax, then Mrs. Whalley — 

“ Merciful Heaven t” exclaimed Bacon, drop- 
ping his knife and fork — “was General Whal- 
Itey her first husband ? Then indeed he and the 
Recluse are the same person.” The nurse stared 
at him a moment, but presently proceeded with 
her narrative. 

“When Mrs. Fairfax, then Mrs. Whalley, left 
her infant son in my care, for the purpose of 
joining her husband, then an officer in the army 
of the commonwealth, I was entirely unacquaint^ 
od with the opposition of her family to her mar- 


CJAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


307 


riage with General Whalley, and ignorant of the 
clandestine manner in which that ceremony had 
been performed, as well as the subsequent pri- 
vacy of their movements, which they thought 
necessary for their safety. 

‘‘ It was a long time after her departure from 
my house, and after the time of her promised re- 
turny before I received the least account of her, or 
the fcanse of her prolonged absence from her child . 
But' when I did at length receive a letter from 
the unfortunate lady, the whole mystery was clear- 
ed up. In that letter she stated ‘ that while she 
was on her way to join her husband, she was 
overtaken in the highway, by a party of loyalist 
soldiers, commanded by her own brother. She 
was immediately recognised by him, and sent un- 
der a military escort to her father’s house, not, 
however, before she had time to learn from one of 
the prisoners under the charge of the party, the 
death of her husband, who, he stated, had fallen 
by his side.’ She made the promised remittances 
for the support of her infant, and every thing went 
on in the usual train, until the time arrived for the 
next promised letter, which indeed arrived, by the 
hands of a very different messenger from the one 
before employed. It was brought by the very 
brother who had arrested her in the road, and sent 
her a prisoner to her father’s house. He presented 
the letter unopened, but stated that he was fully 
apprised of its contents, as well as of the existence 
of his sister’s child, which she still supposed un- 
known to her family. He told me that his father 


208 


CAVALIERS OF VIROlNfA, 


was almost broken-hearted, on account of the dis-* 
graceful marriage which his sister had contracted^ 
and that the sight of her infant in the house, or 
even the knowledge of its existence^ would drive 
him to phrenzy ; that his brothers and himself had 
therefore determined to take effectual means, not 
only to remove the child from within the reach 
and knowledge of their father, but of its mother 
also. That they were determined to take it by 
force, a sufficient proof of which he showed me in 
a party of armed followers, (for they were all mili- 
tary men,) unless I would consent to a plan for the 
removal of the offensive little stranger, which 
would secure all their views, and be, at the same 
time, more satisfactory to himself and, he doubted 
not, to me. His proposition was, that I should 
remove with the child to a distant residence, the 
means for which he would amply provide-; and 
that I should then wait on Mrs. Whalley, his sis- 
ter, and inform her that her child was dead. As 
an inducement for me to be guilty of this decep- 
tion, he informed me that there was a young Cava- 
lier, of good birth and connexions, who was ena- 
moured of his sister, but if the child was permitted 
to absorb her affections, and remind her of her lost 
husband, they despaired of ever seeing her married 
to Mr. Fairfax, and consequently of wiping out 
the stigma upon their good name created by her 
first marriage. I was really attached to the lit- 
tle boy, and fearful that they would take him by 
force if I did not quietly yield, and being assured 
that 1 should watch over him wherever he went^ 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 209 

I consented to the plan. I waited on the mother, 
and with well dissembled sorrow, told her of the 
death of her darling boy. I thought at first that 
she would have gone distracted, but the necessity 
of keeping her secret from her father and bro- 
thers, roused her to the needful exertion. It was 
well that it was so, for I could not have endured 
her heart-rending distress five minutes longer. 
The next information I had of the unfortunate 
lady, was from the same young gentleman, her 
brother, who came to inform me of the success 
of their plans and thus relieve my conscience. His 
sister after a tedious delay had married Mr. Fairfax, 
and sailed for the Capes of Virginia. He assured 
me that the child should always be provided for, but 
that I must change his name from Charles Whalley 
to some other, which I might choose myself, so that 
he could never be able to trace his parentage. I 
was firmly resolved, however, that the innocent 
babe should some day know his real history. In 
the meantime I consented to all that the young 
gentleman desired, and he left the usual supply 
and departed. I never saw him again. The re- 
mittances for the support of the child were indeed 
kept up for some time, but they at length became 
irregular, and less frequent. My mind began to 
grov/ uneasy concerning the charge which I had 
thus by a crime brought upon myself, and which 
I considered but a just retribution for my evil 
deeds. Nor were my fears less anxious concern- 
ing the future prospects of my innocent nursling. 

18 * 


210 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


My health had well nigh sunk under the accnmtJ^ 
lating load of poverty and unavailing regrets for 
my wickedness, and I trust that I sincerely re- 
pented of the evil deed. Providence at length 
directed to my humble dwelling one who appeared 
indeed as one risen from the dead. 

“ It was none other than General Whalley him- 
self; he had really been shot in the battle^ but had 
recovered. Great God ! what were my sensations, 
when the gigantic warrior, pale and worn with 
ihental and bodily suffering, threw aside his dis- 
guise, and avowed himself to me. Notwithstand- 
ing the embarrassing position into which his being 
still alive was calculated to throw all parties, I fell 
upon my knees before him, and my Maker, and 
fully acknowledged my participation in the trans- 
actions which I have related. He had heard of 
the marriage of his wife to Mr. Fairfax, before he 
sought me out, but even at this comparatively 
remote period of time from her marriage, his huge 
frame shook, and he became like an effeminate be- 
ing while he listened to my narrative. He told 
me that he was likewise about to sail for America ; 
not that he desired or intended to make himself 
known to his wife, but because it was becoming 
unsafe for him to remain longer in the kingdom. 
I have no doubt in my own mind, that he was un- 
consciously indulging his desire to be near his still 
adored Emily, in his choice of a place of refuge, 
which he now informed me, was the same to which 
she had gone with her husband. He told me that 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


211 


it was his intention to live in the greatei^t seclu- 
sion, and that his very name should be unknown 
in his new abode. He proposed that I should fol- 
low him) after he should have established himself, 
and made arrangements for my comfortable recep- 
tion, the time for which was specified, I felt my- 
self impelled by an imperious sense of duty to re- 
pair, as far as lay within my power, the injury 
which I had helped to inflict upon him, and 
therefore consented to leave country and home 
with my little charge, now becpme so dear to 
me. 

“After furnishing me with the necessary supplies 
for the long and dreaded voyage, together with 
particular directions as to the place of embarka- 
tion, and the course I was to pursue after arriving 
in Jamestown, General Whalley left me, and I 
have never seen or heard of him to the present 
hour. I did not consider that surprising, how- 
ever, because he informed me thathe would never 
more be known by the name of Whalley, and that 
I must school myself carefully before my departure 
for America, never to drop a hint that he had ever 
been more than he seemed to be in his new abode. 
But to proceed with my story. He had directed 
that I should sail with the boy after the lapse of 
one year from the time of his own departure. The 
most of this interval was employed in making my 
own little preparations for so long a voyage, and my 
final separation in this life, from all my kindred 
and friends. I had promised to keep my design 
as secret as possible, and every precaution was in* 


212 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


deed taken to keep my intended departure a secret 
from all but my own immediate relations. But 
by some means unknown to me, my design be- 
came known to others, as I was apprised one day, 
by a visit from a gentleman named Bacon!” 

The fugitive instantly dropped his knife and 
fork, which he had been occasionally using as the 
story of the nurse ran upon those events already 
known to him, but now a new name was intro- 
duced, and one which, it may be readily imagin- 
ed, did not fail to command his undivided and 
breathless attention. 

“ Mr. Bacon informed me that he had heard of 
my intended expedition, and that I was to take 
out with me the tender boy then on my lap, and 
said he could readily surmise that the late unfor- 
tunate civil wars were in some way or other the 
cause of my undertaking so long and dangerous a 
voyage. As he saw my embarrassment fix)m not 
knowing how to answer him, he hastened to as- 
sure me that he did not desire to pry into my 
secret. That he wds placed in somewhat similar 
circumstances himself, to those which, as he sup- 
posed, operated on the parents of the boy. He 
informed me that his brother and himself had both 
been unfortunately in the army of the common- 
wealth, in which his brother had fallen, and that 
he had left an only son to his care, the mother of 
whom had died in giving him birth. < Now my 
object in coming to you, my good woman,’ said 
he, ‘is to procure your assistance in conveying my 
ward to Virginia.* 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 213 

“I readily undertook the task, and all necessary 
arrangements were made for the boy’s comfortable 
passage. Some months before the time of embarka- 
tion, little master Bacon, or I may as well say 
yourself, was brought to me, in order that you 
might learn to know and love me before we set 
sail for this distant land. When I was on board 
the vessel, and had paid for rny own passage as 
well as for those of my little charges, the money 
for which had been provided by the friends of 
each, I was startled to perceive that Mr. Bacon 
did not join me as had been agreed upon. My 
anxiety became more and more intense as the time 
approached for weighing anchor, for although I 
was amply provided with all necessary funds, my 
mind misgave me that some accident had befallen 
the unfortunate gentleman. He was indeed in 
disguise when he came to see me, and I doubt not, 
was a fugitive from the powers that then ruled our 
native land. My worst apprehensions were realiz- 
ed — Mr. Bacon was either made a prisoner, pre- 
vented from joining me by apprehension, or chose 
to deceive me in the whole business, but 1 have 
always religiously believed, since I have had time 
to reflect dispassionately on the subject, that his 
absence was not a matter of choice. 

We had a pleasant and prosperous voyage, until 
the first night after we came in sight of land, when 
such a storm arose, as it seemed to me that the 
whole world was coming to an end. Daylight 
found us a miserable company of forlorn wretches, 


214 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


hanging upon the wreck. The boats were already- 
loaded to the water’s edge. I prayed and entreat- 
ed some of the good gentlemen to save my two 
precious boys, if they left me, but alas ! every 
one was taking pleasures for his own safety. There 
was one poor, ignorant, but tender-hearted Irish- 
man, who had be,en a soldier, that seemed to com- 
miserate my helpless little charges, his name was 
Brian O’Reily — a talking, blundering, merry youth 
he was then. At length seeing some prospect of 
effecting a landing, he made a raft of parts of the 
wreck, and trusted himself and you to the mercy of 
the treacherous waves. That was the last I ever 
saw of the warmhearted Irishman, and of you, until 
I accidentally discovered, while you were asleep 
in the cellar, the identical locket containing your 
mother’s likeness, which I had placed round your 
neck with my own hands. I saw the resemblance, 
too, which you bore to my lost boy, and was im- 
mediately satisfied that God had preserved you, in 
his own way and for his own wise purposes, and 
I determined also to save you, if I could, from the 
cruel punishment which I learned more fully from 
the sentinel, the Governor intended to inflict upon 
you in the morning. Thank God, I have succeeded. 
Now do tell me, what I have asked you so often, 
what became of the Irishman, and where you were 
landed and how preserved.” 

‘‘First tell me, good nurse, how you escaped 
the wreck, and what became of your other ward. 
It is of immense importance for me to know. The 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 215 

liberty which you have given me is worth nothing, 
without a clear explanation of these points,” 

“ That I can soon inform you of — the Captain, 
kind and generous man that he was, seeing the 
probable success of the Irishman’s plan, adopted 
it himself, and after making a raft, with the help 
of some of his crew, placed all the females on it 
who chose to venture in preference to waiting 
for the return of the boats. Myself with my lit- 
tle remaining boy, and several other females who 
were steerage passengers, suffered ourselves to be 
lashed to the frail machine. For four dreadful 
hours we were tossed about at the mercy of the 
waves, the water for at least half the time dashing 
over us, and, as it seemed, carrying us half way to 
the bottom. At length, however, we landed upon 
the eastern side of this very neck of land, where 
I have remained ever since. I have never set my 
foot on board of any kind of water craft from that 
time to this. Together with another of the females 
mentioned and my little boy, the son of Gene- 
ral Whalley, I wandered through swamps, and 
marshes, and sea- weeds, until we had entirely 
crossed the neck^ — never having eaten one mouth- 
ful until we arrived at this plantation. Here we 
were most kindly received by the widowed mo- 
ther of the present proprietor, Mr. Philip Lud- 
well; but alas, my little boy had suffered too long 
and too severely from the combined effects of the 
night upon the wreck, the succeeding sufferings 
upon the raft, and the hunger endured before we 


216 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


came to this place. He sunk rapidly, notwith- 
standing the humane exertions of the good lady 
who had extended her kindness toward us. He 
died and was buried on this plantation^! have 
preserved his little clothes and trinkets to this day. 
Little did I think at that time that you had out- 
lived him.’^ 

Bacon then performed his promise, and related 
all that he knew of his own and O’Reily’s escape 
from the wreck — and likewise informed her that 
the latter had been on the eastern shore” within 
the last two hours, but, he supposed had been 
taken as a prisoner to Jamestown by Sir William 
Berkley. “ But tell me,” he continued, ‘‘ have 
you never seen or heard any thing of General 
Whalley, or Mrs. Fairfax, since you parted from 
them in England ?” 

have never heard a word of the General 
from that time to the present, though I have ques- 
tioned every body that came from Jamestown. I 
knew that he intended to assume another name, 
and other habits, and I therefore described his 
person and manners, but no one had ever seen such 
a personage !” 

The hasp flew from the pine log into which it 
had been inserted, and the door was driven back 
against the opposite wall. ‘‘ Thou beholdest him 
now, woman! look at me!” and, he pointed to his 
now haggard features, ‘‘ and say whether I am that 
man !” 

But his gigantic figure, never to be mistaken, 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


217 


had scarcely darkened the doorway, before the 
person he addressed began to gasp for breath, and 
seized the arm of Bacon for protection — calling 
upon him for God’s sake to save her — her eyes 
meantime immoveably fixed upon the intruder’s 
countenance. 

Quail not, woman; there is no one here to 
harm thee, if thy own conscience condemns thee 
not I have heard part of thy story, as I listened 
at the door, in order to find out how many of 
the Governor’s minions I should have to slay 
before freeing the boy. Lay thy hand upon the 
Holy Evangelists, woman,” and he drew his 
clasped Bible from his pouch and extended it 
across the table to her, ‘‘ and swear that this boy 
is not my son, whom I entrusted tb thy care.” 

With a trembling hand she touched the holy 
book, and said as distinctly as her fears would per- 
mit, Before God and upon his word, I testify 
it as my firm and unwavering belief, that this 
young man who sits before me, is Nathaniel Bacon, 
and not your son.” 

It was indeed my boy, then, whom thou bu- 
ried upon this lone shore ?” And without waiting 
for an answer he threw himself into one of the rude 
seats, leaned his head down upon the table, and 
gave himself up to uncontrolled emotion. 

Bacon was moved to tears as he saw the stern 
Recluse thus overwhelmed with grief at the 
breaking up of the last tie that linked him to 
earth. He remembered, as he looked upon his 
VoL. ir. 19 


218 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, 


agitated frame, how uncompromising had been the' 
frowns of fortune upon this now solitary being. 
Once he was flushed with the joy of youth, and 
love, and hope, and fired with a military ardour 
like himself. But now (as he supposed) he was 
an outlaw, and an exile from his country — un- 
consciously abandoned by a doting wife — his only 
heir, and the sole stay and hope of his declining 
years dead and buried upon the very spot where 
he at last found the nurse to whom the child had 
been committed. He remembered also his un- 
wavering kindness to himself, and his general 
benevolence and kindness of feeling toward his 
fellow men, and he unconsciously let fall the 
words which rose embodied to his tongue, as with 
swimming eyes he looked upon him, “’Tis a 
hard and cruel fate!’’ 

“ Rather say that retributive justice pursues and 
overtakes the guilty to the ends of the earth.” an- 
swered the Recluse, raising his head erect from the 
table. Oh God, how just and appropriate are thy 
punishments! How true and discriminating is 
thy retribution. Behold here a wretch who has 
fled three thousand miles from the scene of his 
crimes in the vain delusion that he could flee from 
himself and the mysterious all seeing eye above I 
Young man, there is a mysterious system of ethics 
which the world understands not — the reputed 
wise, subtleize it, and the vainly wicked contemn 
and despise it. It is comprised in the simple words 
justice — probity — and benevolence! There is a 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


219 


power of bringing about its own ends in the first 
which none but the wickedly wise know., Yea, and 
bringing it about by the very weapons used against 
its dictates, and if not upon the very scene of the 
crime, at least in a place peculiarly appropriate. 
Behold here before you this worn down remnant 
of humanity, summoned, as he supposed, to rescue 
the last of his race from the power of the oppressor; 
but in truth, only to weep over the grave of his 
real son, buried on this spot years ago. This 
hand once aided in severing the links between 
father and son, — a man as innocent and unofiend- 
ing as his offspring was helpless. A royal line 
they were. Just heaven, how that crime has been 
avenged! How strangely and how justly ! Pro- 
bity and benevolence are mysteriously bringing 
about their own righteous purposes, as does justice 
her avenging decrees. The worldly wise look with 
contempt upon simple honesty, but the highest 
ultimatum of earthly wisdom and experience is to 
have the power and the knowledge of the wicked 
with the simple guide, that justice, probity and 
benevolence unerringly work out their own re- 
ward. 

^‘The wickedly wise cunningly suppose that they 
are cheating their God and their fellow men; the 
last they may temporarily deceive, but the Great 
Political Economist of the universe so overrules 
their cunning, that their own hands are forging 
the chains of their future captivity, at the very 
moment when they suppose themselves construct^ 


220 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


ing daggers for their neighbour’s throats, and keys 
for their strong boxes. The mysterious power of 
which I speak is felt always in the latter end of 
human life, but can never be described to those 
just entering upon the scene. Thrice blessed is 
he, my son, who can fall before his Maker and say 
that justice, probity and benevolence have been his 
ruling motives of action — whether from the dic- 
tates of the heart or of the head. That thou art 
one of those I have long believed, and if thou art 
not the son of my loihs, thou art of my affections. 
Come, my boat waits for thee; thy presence is even 
now needed in Jamestown. Thy troops are en- 
camped but a few miles from the town, and are 
wondering at thy absence. The Governor has em- 
barked for the city to perpetrate more wrong and 
oppression. By the will of Heaven this rusty 
weapon shall once more do battle in a holy cause. 

As they were leaving the cabin, Bacon turned 
to the nurse and embracing her said, ‘‘ I go hence, 
good Margaret, to battle in the cause bf my coun- 
try, and that right speedily. If I am successful, 
you will soon hear from me, and if not, you will 
have the consolation of knowing that your foster 
son died as became the son of a soldier. Before 
yon rising moon has twice performed her circuit, 

I will be either the conqueror of Jamestown or 
buried in its ruins.” 

With hasty strides he followed the Recluse, who 
was already half way to the little secluded inlet 
from which he had landed. As they approached 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


221 


the water, Bacon could perceive two slender masts 
dancing in the moonbeams, as the dark hull of a 
fishing smack pitched and tossed with the swelling 
billows. Stepping into a log canoe, (such as sur- 
round all water bound plantations in slave coun- 
tries,) they were speedily on board the diminutive 
craft, where two lounging fishermen waited their 
approach. The wind was blowing fresh from off 
the sea across the neck of land they had just left, 
and they scudded before it at a rate, if not quite 
equal to the impatience of the more youthful 
voyager, at least with as much rapidity as could 
reasonably have been expected. The Recluse 
seemed as usual inclined for thoughtful silence, 
and as his companion leaned against the mast of 
the rocking vessel, he saw the workings of a 
mighty mind — wrecked, as he supposed, upon some 
unseen obstacle, as it was impetuously borne along 
by the resistless tide of youthful hopes and aspira- 
tions. He could not believe that the Recluse had 
ever been deliberately base or cruel, as he him- 
self had more than hinted. ‘‘At least,” said he, 
as he communed with himself, ‘‘he has paid ten- 
fold penance for a single error./' 

The Recluse at length perceived that his com- 
panion was observing him, and arose from his half 
recumbent position, and stood beside him, his 
arms folded for an instant, and his attenuated 
countenance,, as it reflected back the sickly rays of 
a hazy moon,, settled in profound melancholy. He 
took the hand of the youth, and shook it sonre 

19* 


Z22 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


time in agitation before he could give utterance to 
his thoughts, but at length he said in a voice which 
betrayed the violence of his feelings, 

“ Nathaniel, canst thou forgive me for that cruel 
mistake at the chapel? Oh, couldst thou know 
what I suffered then, and since, both on thy ac- 
count and my own, thou wouldst accept it as am- 
ple atonement for the unintended wrong. I saw, 
on that dreadful night, her who was the queen of 
my manhood’s fondest dreams — who had basked 
with me in the sunshine of youth and hope — who 
had given me her young affections in return for 
my own, when life was in its bud, and who after- 
ward blossomed into the rich fruition of maternal 
love and beauty in these arms — her who was torn 
from me by a base deception of her kindred, and 
married to another. I saw her face to face, for 
the first time in more than twenty years, when 
she was about to give the offspring of her second 
marriage as a wife to the offspring of her first, as 
I supposed. Oh, what human conception can 
realize the torrent that broke over my soul at that 
fearful moment ? The shadowy remembrances 
which had been softening and fading in the lapse 
of years burst at once into life and being' Time 
and place were forgotten — the passions of youth 
rushed into the contest, and I stood as the frail 
mortal body shall stand at the final day, when its 
own spirit knocks for entrance. The buried 
ghosts of my own passions rose from their grave, 
the frail cloak of stoicism which had been woven 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


223 


round me, was blasted into shreds and patches> 
and I stood and quailed before a woman’s eye like 
Belshazzar at his feast. Thou hast felt thy heart 
swelling and, plunging against its bony prison, but 
thou hast never had it gorged and choked with 
the dammed up waters of bitterness, gathered 
through long and dreary years. Thou hast felt 
the words stick in thy throat, and refuse to leap 
into life, but thou wert never struck dumb with a 
judgment from Heaven, like a thunderbolt scorch- 
ing and searing into the very citadel of thought 
and vitality! Thou hast writhed when stung by 
the scorpion tongue of calumny, but thou hast 
never been outlawed and abandoned of all human 
kind — condemned by thy own conscience — and 
given up of God!” 

His eye shot forth vivid fires, and his arms, as 
they were flung abroad in violent gesticulation, 
cast giant shadows upon the moonlit waves of the 
Chesapeake. 

‘‘You do both yourself and your friends griev- 
ous wrong,” said Bacon, after a painful pause. 

“ I have indeed wronged myself — most wretch- 
edly wronged myself, but not now ; the wrong 
which I did to others has recoiled ten-fold upon 
my own head. I know full well thy meaning — 
thou wouldst say that kindly feelings are not 
wholly dead within this seared heart! But thou 
hast made but little progress in analyzing our 
moral structure, if thou dost not know that crime 
committed by one whose nature would lead to 


224 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


good, is the true source of that misery which 
surpasseth speech. 

An intuitive villain, if there be such, or one 
become wholly corrupt, plunges from transgression 
to transgression, until his final ruin, without endur- 
ing any of that wretchedness which comes of a 
stain upon a tenderer conscience. Such a man has 
no conscience; it is seared or obliterated; but he of 
benevolent heart and virtuous impulses, wounds his 
guardian angel by the deed. The taint corrupts 
and sours the sweets of life into gall and bitter- 
ness. If that stain be but a single deed, and 
that, dark, damning and indelible, the perpetrator 
becomes as an angel of light in the companionship 
of hell. He may be likened to one who loses the 
power of sight, with all the other senses perfect. 
He hears what others see, but to him the grand 
medium of perception is dark and dismal, and the 
rhapsodies of others are his own damnation. There 
is but one hue to his atmosphere ; it is the fearful 
red which only the blood of man can dye. In his 
case the language of scripture is fulfilled before 
its time. The moon is turned to blood, and the 
morning beam dispelleth not the horrid hue.” 

Bacon thought any direction of his companion’s 
thoughts preferable to his present mood, and there- 
fore said “But she whom you supposed my mo- 
ther — ” 

“ I know it all, my son, interrupted the Recluse; 
I saw the marble features upon their last journey. 
For twenty years I have not envied mortal beings 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


225 


but I confess to thee, that there was something in 
the cessation from thought, suffering and action — 
and the sleep-like serenity of death for which I 
longed. Nevertheless, there is an awful mystery 
in that Which seemeth so simple in itself. Mere 
lifeless clayi moulded by the hands of man into the 
same stamp, speaks not to man 'in the same lan- 
guage ; it may indeed refresh the memory, but it 
stirreth not up the divinity within us. Who is 
he that looketh upon the features of the dead and 
looketh not up to the giver and recipient of life ? 
I saw her mortal remains laid out in the midst of 
a camp, and the busy world faded away into in- 
distinctness, while the God of the universe spoke 
in the person of the beautiful corse before me and 
said “ Thus far shalt thou go and no farther.” 

As they steered their course uninterruptedly 
towards the source of the Powhatan, which they 
had entered as the sunbeams broke through the 
morning mists, Bacon threw himself down, and 
slept soundly, until he was aroused by the Recluse 
to inquire what direction their agents should give 
the vessel when they arrived within sight of the 
city. 

He was roused to immediate thought and action 
by the question. He knew the danger of entering 
the capital, now that it was in the possession of 
Sir William Berkley, and therefore directed the 
boatmen to land him some miles above. 

The Recluse, at his own request, was put on 
shore somewhat nearer the capital, but entirely out 


226 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


of reach of any precautions which the vigilance 
of the Governor might have instituted. 

Bacon inquired eagerly, why he left him, after 
his promise to draw his sword in the cause of the 
people and the country, assuring him at the same 
time that he intended bringing the matter to im- 
mediate issue. 

I leave thee now, my son, to set my house in 
order. Trust in one who has never failed thee in 
need. I will be with thee in this last struggle — 
for there is something whispers me that it will be 
the last. Leave the event, therefore, with him 
who rules the destinies of battles.’' And with these 
words he sprang upon the shore and disappeared in 
the forest. 

In a few hours more. Bacon was again at the 
head of his devoted troops, who were entirely 
ignorant of the cause of his protracted absence, 
but now that they knew its cause, were bursting 
with ardour to avenge his own and his country’s 
Strongs. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


221 


CHAPTER XII. 


General Bacon’s ardour and decision of cha- 
racter were not in the least abated by his late perils 
and imprisonment ; on the contrary, recent de- 
velopments had relieved him from suspense and 
inspired him with ne^ motives for action, to say 
nothing of the redress loudly demanded, by all 
classes of the citizens, for the Governor’s increasing 
oppressions. Scarcely was sufficient time allowed 
for his devoted officers to shake him cordially by 
the hand, before his gallant band of patriots was 
marching towards Jamestown, without music or 
noise of any kind. There was a cool settled de- 
termination visible in the countenances of all, which 
was admirably evinced by the order and alacrity 
with which they obeyed the general’s orders. 
Bacon’s cause had now become personal with 
every man in the ranks, composed as they were 
principally of hardy planters and more chivalrous 
Cavaliers, who knew not at what moment they 
might themselves be subjected to like wrongs and 
indignities to those from which he had just escaped. 
As the chief had anticipated, the patriot army ar- 
rived on the heights of Jamestown, just as the 
shades of night were enclosing the forest. It was 


228 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


not his intention that Sir William Berkley should 
ascertain his arrival and position, until he had made 
suitable dispositions for his reception, should he 
feel disposed to pay him a visit. Accordingly, the 
whole army was immediately employed in digging - 
an entrenchment, and erecting a barricade of fallen 
trees, for the protection of the troops, should it be 
found necessary in their future operations. These 
transactions took place, it will be remembered, on 
the evening of the same day in which Bacon parted 
from the Recluse, and landed upon the main shore. 

Meanwhile, Sir William Berkley, his family, 
suite and followers, of high and low degree, had 
effected their landing without opposition at James- 
town. The same night that Bacon and his patriot 
followers were entrenching themselves on the 
heights, the Governor and his adherents were 
marshalling themselves in the city. Great num- 
bers of the citizens, however, were decidedly op- 
posed to Sir William and his measures ; and his 
arrival and military preparations were no sooner 
perceived, then they betook themselves, with 
their families and property, under cover of night, 
to the privacy of the neighbouring plantations : 
numbers of them accidentally encountered the 
patriots at their work, and immediately sending on 
their families, joined their standard. Besides 
the land and naval forces now at the disposal of the 
Governor — and they already outnumbered his op- 
ponents — he offered every inducement to the worth- 
less and dissolute loungers of the town to unite 


CAVALIERS OP VlROmiA. 


229 


with his army ; he did not even hesitate to promise 
largely of the plunder, and confiscated property of 
the rebels. 

On the succeeding morning, the sun rose upon 
the ancient city, in unclouded splendour, for the 
last time it was destined ever to shine upon the 
earliest erected city in North America. It was 
the dreaded day to our heroine, appointed for her 
marriage. Her uncle had solemnly assured her 
upon their landing on the previous day, that the one 
which had now arrived, should see her the wife of 
Beverly. The latter, too, claimed the fulfilment of 
her solemn promise. The distressed and enfeebled 
girl knew not whither to turn for sympathy and 
succour ; she was beset on all sides, and not a little 
oppressed with the shackles of her own promise. 
She did not dare to hope that her lover had already 
made his way from Accomac to her own vicinity. 
She remembered indeed, that the Recluse had 
charged her, in case of any sudden danger or emer- 
gency, to send him a memento of the bloody seal, 
but she likewise remembered, that he had since been 
the main cause of her separation from one to whom 
she was heart and soul devoted. She was also op- 
pressed with unutterable sadness on account of her 
mother’s death, the true account of which she had 
just heard,— the body having been sent by the pa- 
triots to the city for burial, immediately before her 
arrival. To her aunt she appealed, with touching 
pathos; but alas, she could do nothing, even had 
she been so disposed. Wyanokee had returned 
VoL. II. ^20 


230 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA* 


with the body of her mother, and by her devotian 
to the revered remains, revived all Virginia’s for- 
mer affection, but she was powerless, and withal a 
prisoner, and so wrapped up in her own gloomy 
meditations, that she looked more like one of the 
dumb idols of her own race, than a living maiden. 
When spoken to, she started up as one from a 
trance — and without speaking again, sought com- 
munion with her own ideal world. 

The hour was a second time fast approaching 
for the celebration of the nuptials of our heroine. 
None of the fortunate occurrences or lucky acci- 
dents for which she had hoped, relieved the de- 
spair of the fleeting moments. Her uncle and 
Beverly had both repeatedly sent up to her apart- 
ments, and desired to be admitted to her presence, 
but on various pretences they had been as yet de- 
nied. Her aunt had again and again urged her to 
prepare for the ceremony, but hour after hour flew 
by, and she was still sitting in her rode de cham~ 
brty her neglected ringlets hanging in loose clus- 
ters over her forehead and neck, the former of 
which rested upon her hand, and it in its turn upon 
her knee — her head turned slightly to one side, 
where Wyanokee sat, straight as an Indian arrow, 
and silent and immoveable as death. At length she 
heard her uncleat the door, who swore that if she 
did not dress and descend immediately to the 
parlour, where the clergyman and Beverly were 
in waiting, he would have the door forced, and 
compel her to go through the ceremony even 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA* 


231 


should her feet refuse to sustain her. Soon after 
he had retired, Lady Berkley again entered, when 
the distressed and bereaved maiden clasped her 
round the neck and wept bitterly. “ Oh, dearest 
aunt,” she exclaimed, “ save me from this desecra- 
tion — this perjury! Great and merciful God,” she 
cried, loosing her hold, and clasping her hands, 
how can I vow before Heaven to love, honour 
and obey a man that I abhor and detest ?” 

‘‘ You should have thought of that, my dear 
child, before you gave your solemn promise to 
Frank; it is too late now to retract.’^ 

“ Is it even so? then I will swear when they 
come to ask me to pledge my vows, that my love 
never was mine to give away; that I learned its 
existence in another’s possession. They shall 
not — they cannot force me to swear an untruth. 
They may lead me through the outward forms of 
a marriage ceremony, but racks and torments shall 
not make me in any way accessary to the deed. 
If I promised otherwise, it was the last despairing 
refuge of outraged nature. It was the instinct 
of preservation within me, and not my free and 
voluntary act.” Influenced by this idea, she stood 
like an automaton, and suffered her women to deck 
her out in bridal array, and was then mechanically 
led from her room, accompanied by her aunt, 
Wyanokee, and her female dependants. She found 
Sir William Berkley and Frank Beverly waiting 
her approach in the entry. She shrunk back at 
the sight of the latter, but he, none the less bold, 
approached at the same time with her uncle, and to- 


232 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


gether they led her toward the room where the cler- 
gyman waited^ with many of the loyal Cavaliers. 
When they arrived at the door, and she saw the 
reverend gentleman in his robes, and the book 
open before him, her excited frame could bear the 
tension no longer, and she fell lifeless upon the 
floor. A loud roar from the brazen throat of a can- 
non at the same moment shook the windows like a 
peal of thunder, and was succeeded by the echoing 
blasts of the trumpet’s charge, multiplying the 
bold challenge as it rolled from river to cliff. This 
plan of daring an opponent to battle, was strictly 
in accordance with the usages of the age, and was 
instantly understood by the Governor and his 
friends, all of whom flew to the windows, where 
they beheld a sight, which soon drove softer emo- 
tions from their hearts, if they had any. The for- 
mer saw the smoke curling over Bacon’s breast- 
work and entrenchments, and was struck dumb 
with amazement. But soon recovering his voice^ 
and throwing up the sash, he shouted to the 
guard below, “ to arms, to arms — ^for king and 
country.” 

Whatever were the faults of Sir William Berk- 
ley, and they will be considered many in this re- 
fined age and renovated country, cowardice was 
not one of them. In a very few moments he mount- 
ed his charger and, together with Beverly and 
Ludwell, galloped swiftly along his forming bat- 
talions rebuking the tardy and cheering on the 
brave. With his superior numbers and heavier 
appointments, he felt as sure of victory as if he 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


233 


already sat in judgment, or was pronouncing sen- 
tence upon the chief of the rebels. That Bacon 
was already at the head of his army never for a 
moment entered his imagination ; but the know- 
ledge would have made no change in his arrogant 
calculations, even had he possessed it. 

So confident was he of an easy and speedy vic- 
tory, that he scouted the idea of remaining within 
the palisade, and waiting for the attack of the pa- 
triots ; and this was indeed becoming every mo. 
ment more impracticable, for the cannon balls from 
the heights were even now tearing through the 
houses, riddling the ships and throwing his troops 
into confusion. No time therefore was to be lost. 
He ordered the vessels to draw off* into the middle 
of the stream, threw open the gates, and sallied 
boldly out to meet the foe. 

Virginia was borne to her apartment still 
senseless, and the physician was immediately sent 
for, but before his arrival, she had several times 
opened her eyes as her aunt with real but unavail- 
ing sorrow in her countenance applied the usual 
restoratives. At every discharge of the artillery 
she slightly moved; her excited imagination identi- 
fied the sound with the fearful thunder that attend- 
ed the former disastrous ceremony at the chapel. 

But when her aunt explained to her the occasion 
of the uproar, she sprang up in the bed, clasped 
her hands, threw her eyes to Heaven, and exclaim- 
ed,— ‘‘ Merciful God, I thank thee! Providence 
has indeed interposed for my preservation! Oh, if 
^ 0 * 


294 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Ae coyld only be there ? — No, no, no, it is better^ 
perhaps, as it is — for cruel as my uncle is, I could 
not bear to see him pierced by Bacon’s sword, and 
he would assuredly seek his life. Merciful Father, 
thou orderest all things wisely. Aunt, let me 
prepare you for another turn of fortune ! The 
patriots will be successful I my heart assures me 
they will. Young Dudley and Harrison are there, 
and they have lion hearts; but weep not, aunt, they 
are as generous as they are brave.” 

Sir William Berkley, with that blind, passion- 
ate, and impetuous courage for which he was dis- 
tinguished, scarcely delayed to organize his troops 
effectually, but rushed with reckless fury against 
his enemies. 

Bacon, from the moment that he perceived the 
marshalling of the troops outside the gate, silenced 
his cannon,, and waited with coolness, and in pro- 
found silence, the approach of the opposing 
columns. Sir William began to calculate upon a 
bloodless and easy victory, and even contemplated 
sending in a flag with terms of capitulation. But 
dearly did he pay for his error, and terribly was 
he awakened from the momentary delusion. 

Bacon had persisted in waiting the onset, not- 
withstanding the impetuous ardour of his troops, 
until he could make every shot effective; he 
knew his inferiority of numbers, and determined 
to compensate for his disparity of force by cool- 
ness and precision. “Wait until you see the 
white of their eyes, my fine fellows,” was his 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 235 

often repeated answer to the suggestions and even 
entreaties of his impatient cannoniers ; but when 
at length he did give the word “fire!” most ef- 
fectually was it echoed. The very heights seem- 
ed to the panic stricken troops of the Governor, to 
pour out red hot iron and smoke. They were 
speedily rallied and brought again to the charge — 
and again the same fearful reception awaited their 
farther progress, with the addition, at the second 
onset, of a volley of musketry. Dreadful was the 
havoc in the royal ranks, and terrible the dismay 
of the soldiery. The rabble which the Governor 
had hastily collected in the town, fairly took to their 
heels and fled to the protection of the fort. Again 
the valiant old knight rode among his troops, and 
cheered them to the onset, but at each succeeding 
attack, some more fatal reserve was brought into ac- 
tion. At length the patriot chief, standing upon his 
rude fortification, and looking down upon the dis- 
mayed and retreating loyalists, began to take coun- 
sel of his youthful ardour — he longed to measure 
swords with the officer whom he beheld riding so 
constantly by the side of the Governor. He saw 
the officers of the king, as they rode among their 
troops, some with tears in their eyes endeavour- 
ing to rally them, and others swearing and re- 
buking their cowardly foHowers; and he determin- 
ed to permit them to rally and then bear down 
upon them with his own high spirited and ardent 
soldiers. He was quickly mounted, as were also 
Dudley, Harrison, and the brave band of youthful 


236 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Cavaliers who had adhered so long and so faithful- 
ly to his fortunes. When he announced this de- 
termination to his army, the welkin rung again 
with their joyous acclamations, and every heart 
throbbed in unison with his own, and assured him 
of victory. 

‘‘This night,” said Bacon in a low voice to 
Dudley, as they rode over the entrenchment — 
“Jamestown shall be a heap of ashes!” 

Dudley made no reply, but smote his clenched 
hand upon his harness with emphasis, returning 
the glance of his commander with one of cordial 
approval. 

Sir William Berkley and his subordinates, see- 
ing the movement of their opponents, were soon 
enabled to rally the disheartened troops, and as the 
patriot army marched down the hill, the royalists 
in turn, raised the cheering chorus. 

The loyal army had not at any time during the 
engagement, presented so formidable an appear- 
ance, as they did at this moment, and they in their 
turn silently awaited the sortie of the enemy. As 
Bacon’s followers debouched, they visibly accel- 
erated their pace to double quick time, and the 
two bodies came together with a shock like the 
explosion of a magazine. Terrible was the melee, 
and dreadful the carnage which ensued. As they 
closed. Bacon raised his voice, and addressing 
Beverly by name, called upon him to sustain his 
late charges. Consternation was visible in the 
countenances both of Beverly and the Governor 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


237 


at the unexpected appearance of the patriot chief, 
but the former yielded to it only for an instant — 
in the next the youthful champions plunged the 
rowels into the flanks of their chargers, and rush- 
ed at each other like infuriated wild beasts. The 
fire flew from their swords, and their eyes flashed 
not less brightly, but at the first onset, Beverly’s 
weapon snapped ofi* short at the guard. Bacon 
raised himself in the stirrups, and was about to 
plunge his blade deep into the breast of his hated 
rival, but it fell harmless upon the mane of his 
charger, and he drew back to the command of his 
troops. Beverly wheeled his horse and rode slow- 
ly from the field, deeply wounded and mortified; as 
much perhaps at the contrast between Bacon’s for- 
bearance and his own late vote ’of condemnation, 
as at the disaster and defeat he had sustained. 

As Bacon returned to reanimate his troops, he 
found that a new ally was doing battle in his 
cause. He saw near the right wing, the flourishes 
of a gigantic arm, which he had formerly seen do 
service. The Recluse was indeed there; how 
long since. Bacon knew not, but he seemed to be 
already in the thickest of the fight. He had lost 
his cap, and his bald head towered amid his fel- 
lows and brightly glistened in the sun. His 
right arm was bare to the shoulder, and dyed with 
blood to the finger ends. He seemed striving to 
throw his life away, and more than once thrust 
himself into the very ranks of the foe, but as 
often the terror-struck loyalists gave way before 


238 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


him. He seemed to be perfectly invulnerable, 
for not a wound had he yet received. 

The consequences of the first repulse at the as- 
sault on Bacon’s intrenchments could not be over- 
come by the now exhausted and dismayed loyalists. 
One column after another gave way, and fled into 
the town, until not more than half remained. 
These were the regular troops, which had through- 
out adhered so firmly to the person and fortunes of 
the Governor. His friends urged him to capitu- 
late, but he was as obstinate in battle as he had 
before shown himself in council. 

He was at length almost dragged from the field 
by his friends — as all his troops were flying in dis- 
order and confusion into the town. The patriots 
rushed in, together with their flying foes. The 
Recluse had seized some flying charger, and, still 
bareheaded, was dealing death to those who came 
within the sweep of his terrific weapon. Bacon over 
and over again, offered quarter to the flying rem- 
nant, but they fought as they ran, keeping up some- 
thing like an irregular action, the whole distance 
from the field of battle to the city. 

At length both parties were within the walls, and 
the fight was renewed, but the loyalists were soon 
driven from the field. Some escaped by boats to 
the shipping — and among these. Sir William Berkf 
ley was forcibly dragged from the city as he had 
been from the field. In vain he pleaded the situa- 
tion of his wife and niece ; he was assured by his 
friends of their safety in the hands of the victor. 


CAVALIERS OP VIRGINIA. 


239 


and still urged forward in his^flight. Many poor 
fellows plunged into the river, and endeavoured to 
save themselves by swimming to the ships which 
still adhered to the loyal cause, but numbers pe- 
rished in the attempt. 

Bacon with difficulty restrained himself by a 
sense of duty, long enough to see the victory com- 
plete, before he leaped from his horse, and rushed 
up the stairs of the Governor’s house, where, in a 
few moments, he was clasped in the arms of the 
amazed and delighted Virginia, notwithstanding 
the presence of Lady Berkley. He had no sooner 
exchanged those thousand little nameless but en- 
dearing questions and answers, that leap into life 
unhidden after such an absence and such a meeting, 
than he turned to Lady Berkley, and said. ‘‘ Ma- 
dam, a safe escort to convey you to your husband, 
waits your commands, at any moment you may 
choose to leave the city.” 

‘‘But my niece — is she also free to go?” 

“ What says my Virginia — will she accept a sol- 
dier’s protection ?” 

“ With all my heart and soul,” she answered. 

While they discoursed thus, the bells were ring- 
ing, and huge columns of smoke shot up past the 
windows on every side, and burning timbers spark- 
led and cracked with increasing and startling 
rapidity. Bacon instantly understood the cause, 
and taking Virginia in his arms, and bidding Lady 
Berkley and Wyanokee, who till now had scarcely 


240 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


been noticed, to follow, he rushed into the street, 
and beheld Jamestown in flames. In a short time 
it was a pile of black and scorched ruins, as it has 
stood from that day to the present. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


Ml 


CHAPTER XIII. 


After the battle and destruction of Jamestown, 
Sir William Berkley, accompanied by his now 
liberated Lady and his remaining followers, com- 
prising the still loyal marine force, retired again to 
the shades of Accomac, where we will leave him 
and the remaining events of his life in the hands 
of the historian. 

The political power of the colony was now in 
the possession of the victorious chief, so lately 
condemned to death. He was not long in sur- 
rendering it to a convention of the people, sum- 
moned to meet at Middle Plantations, (Williams- 
burg,) for that purpose, and in their hands we will 
leave the political affairs of the future mother of 
states. Our only remaining duty is to follow the 
fortunes of the principal characters of our narra- 
tive. The successful general, after attending to 
his military and political duties, accompanied his 
now betrothed bride from the ruins of Jamestown 
to the new seat of government. It was a delight- 
ful summer evening — the sun was just sinking be- 
neath a horizon, where the darker blue of the dTs- 
tant landscape softened the shades of the azure 
sky, both merging in the indistinct prospect so as 

VoL. II. 21 


242 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


to form a magnificent back ground to a panorama^ 
bathed in a flood of golden light. The youthful 
and happy pair instinctively reined up their horses, 
and gazed upon the enchanting scene, until their 
hearts were full of love and adoration. 

Then by one impulse they turned their horses’ 
heads, and gazed upon one far diflerent, which they 
were leaving. The ruins of the first civilized 
settlement in North America were still sending 
up volumes of smoke, through v/hich at intervals 
gleamed a lurid flash, as some more combustible 
materials fell into the mass of living embers below. 
But there were associations with this scene, to the 
hearts of our pilgrims, which no tongue or pen can 
describe; the melancholy treasures of memory col- 
lected through long forgotten years, came gushing 
back over their hearts in a resistless torrent. The 
scenes of their childhood — of all their romantic 
dreams, and those fairy and too unreal creations 
of young life — the graves of their relations and 
friends, were about to be surrendered up to the 
dominion of the thistle and the ivy, there to moul- 
der through all future generations.* But this was 
not all that was saddening in the view before them. 
The Indian captives, some two hundred in number, 
were ascending the heights to the very spot which 
they occupied, on their way to the far west. 

* The ivy capped ruins of the old church are all that remain to 
this day of the ancient city. We trust that no irreverent hands 
will ever be laid upon that venerable pile ; but that it may be suffered 
to stand in its own melancholy grandeur, as long as its materials 
may cling together. 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


243 


Poor and friendless beings they were! their world- 
ly store they wore upon their backs, consisting for 
the most part of w’orn out leather garments, and 
a few worthless baubles carried in their wallets. 
They skirted along the brow of the hill in Indian 
file — their steps slow and melancholy. They too 
were about to leave the scenes of their long sojourn, 
the broad and fertile lands which they had inherit- 
ed from the beginning of time — the honoured re- 
lics of their dead, and all the loved associations 
which cling to the heart of the rudest of man- 
kind, when about to leave for ever the shades of 
home. They were just entering upon the weari- 
some pilgrimage of the exile, under a combination 
of the most cruel and unfortunate circumstances, 
and in a condition the worst calculated to subdue 
new countries, and battle with hostile tribes. As 
they passed in review before the youthful pair of an- 
other race, no sign of recognition manifested itself. 
They moved along with the gravity and solemnity 
of a funeral procession, until the last of the line 
stood before them. It was Wyanokee! She paus- 
ed — attempted to "pass on like her predecessors, 
but her feet refused to bear her from the spot, and 
turning to them she cried as if the words had burst 
irresistibly from her heart, “Oh cruel and treach- 
erous is the white man! See you those braves, 
going down the path of yonder hill.^ So they 
have been going ever since Powhatan made the 
first peace with your race. May the Great Spirit 
who dwells beyond the clouds, shower mercies 


244 CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 

upon you both, equal to the wrongs which your 
people have visited upon ours.” And having thus 
spoken she broke away, and ran swiftly down the 
hill in pursuit of her countrymen. She saw that 
Virginia was struggling with her emotions to speak, 
and she rushed away lest she should again be com- 
pelled to listen to a subject which was disagreeable 
to her. Virginia, before her own departure, had 
exhausted her persuasive powers in the vain effort 
to induce her to remain. A hope had till now 
lingered in her heart, that Wyanokee would fol- 
low her to Middle Plantations, and once more 
take up her abode in her house, but when she saw 
the last traces of her receding figure through the 
shadowy gloom of the forest, she knew that she 
looked upon the Indian maiden for the last time 
on earth. 

With swimming eyes the lovers pursued their 
way across the narrow peninsula. Virginia sob- 
bed aloud, until she had given vent to her over- 
charged heart. But an easy and gentle palfrey, and 
a devoted and obsequious lover, do not often fail to 
revive a lady’s spirits, especially through such 
scenes as' she now beheld, bathed as they were 
in the mellow glories of a summer twilight. 

Hope told a flattering tale,” and our hero and 
heroine would have been more or less than mor- 
tal, and wise beyond their years, had they not 
listened to it. Their laughter was not loud and 
joyous, it is true, they were far too happy for that; 
their frames trembled with the exquisite pleasure 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


245 


which words warm from and to the heart produc- 
ed. Sometimes they were silent indeed, but not 
for want of thoughts to interchange. Words had 
exhausted their power. 

They had not proceeded many miles on their 
way, and the sun still hung as it were suspended 
beyond the purple glories of the horizon, when Ba- 
con pointed with his riding whip to an object before 
them which quickly changed the current of his 
companion’s thoughts. Like human life, their short 
journey seemed destined to exhibit many dark 
and gloomy shadows. It was the Recluse ; he 
was leaning against a tree, apparently waiting their 
approach, for as they rode up, he stepped out into 
the highway and saluted them, Virginia trembled 
upon her saddle with very different sensations from 
those to which we have just alluded, but her lover 
hastily unfolded to her his name and former delu- 
sion. This, my young friends,” said the Recluse, 
“is our last meeting on earth — and I have sought 
it thatT might bless you both, before my departure 
from the land in which I have so long been a so- 
journer and an exile from the haunts of men.” 

Whither are you going?” asked Bacon in 
astonishment. “ You certainly will not leave us, 
now that the very time has arrived when you may 
dwell here in safety. I had even calculated upon 
having you as an inmate at my house.” 

“ It cannot be,” replied the Recluse. “ My 
destiny calls me to a place far north of this, where 
some of my old comrades and now fellow sufferers. 


S46 


CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA. 


dwell in comparative peace and security. But it 
is only detaining you after night fall, to multiply 
words. May God of his infimte mercy bless and 
preserve you both,’^ and thus speaking he also de- 
parted, and was seen no more.* 


On a certain evening, not very long after the 
one just spoken of. General Bacon was married to 
Miss Virginia Fairfax, and at the same time and 
place Charles Dudley, Esq. led to the altar Miss 
Harriet Harrison. 

After this happy announcement, it becomes our 
painful duty to cast a melancholy blemish upon 
the character of one who has figured in our nar- 
rative. On the two several occasions, namely, of 
his release from captivity by the storming and 
capture of Jamestown, and his master’s marriage, 
Brian O’Reily was found hopelessly, helplessly 
drunk ; or ^according to his own explanation, in 
that state in which a man feels [upward for the 
earth. 

* Our authority for assuming that ‘one of the Regicides secluded 
himself for a time near Jamestown, may be found in Stiles’ 
Judges, Chapter VI. 


THE END. 




ADDENDA. 


Should the author’s humble labours continue to 
amuse his countrymen, he will very soon lay be- 
fore them ‘‘The Tramontane Order; or the Knights 
of the Golden Horseshoe;” — an order of Knight- 
hood in the Old Dominion, which first planted the 
British standard beyond the Blue Mountains. 




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Deacidrfied using the Bookkeeper proce 
Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: '096 


PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES, IN 
1 1 1 Thomson Parte Drive 

P.rfinhorru Ttun DA lAHAA 



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